Description

In Kaltern in South Tyrol, Italy, the municipality is experimenting with participative housing concepts for rural regions. As urban and rural ways of life continue to converge, the idea of community-oriented housing and individually adaptable apartment layouts can no longer be seen as a solely urban phenomenon. The result is a pioneering project that is conceived as “a village within a village”.

The housing scheme on the Gartenweg picks up the pattern of existing settlement agglomerations in Kaltern and presents an interesting way of transforming these traditional patterns into a more efficient structure that improves village structure and counters expansion into the surrounding landscape. From afar, one sees eight buildings that recall the typical arrangement of single-family houses in terms of their position, scale, roof form and façades, and are perceived as a normal part of the local town- and landscape. Only from close up does one see the terracing of the buildings and their common plinth partially buried in the slope of the terrain. The entire ensemble is embedded in the surrounding landscape and is organized around a car-free street that doubles as a children’s play area and a place for the neighbours to meet. Like in a typical village, a complex system of paths connectsthe various public and semi-public areas, which provide both opportunities for communication and interaction as well as spaces for private retreat.

A particular feature that is unusual in a rural area is the underground parking, which enables the residents to drive right up to their houses while freeing up the street as a communal space. The street is both a play area for children and a spacious central communicative space that links the public and private realms. It contributes to the identity of the housing scheme and attracts children from the wider surroundings.

As part of a subsidised housing construction programme, interested parties were able to apply to the Municipality of Kaltern for a plot on a housing site. A shortlist was drawn up based on the needs of the applicants. After awarding of the plots, the 25 selected families decided to form a co-op association to realise the project. Today, the individual apartments belong to the respective families and the co-op association was dissolved after transferral of ownership. The group is relatively homogeneous with an average age of 35 years, mostly young families with two adults in employment. This is a product of Italian legislation, which prioritisesyoung families over singles. A total of 70 interested parties applied for a unit in the project.

The site was selected and purchased by the municipality, and then made available to the applicants at an affordable price. Half of the land price was financed by the state, the remainder by the co-op association. The municipality organised an architecture competition for the housing project on the site, which was won by the architecture office feld72 together with PlanSinn Landschaftsarchitekten, and the project began after transferral of ownership from the municipality. The co-op association decided to award the planning and construction supervision of the project to the winners of the architecture competition.

After the shortlist of participating applicants had been determined, the co-op association was founded in 2007. In March 2008, the architects were then commissioned. The formal purchase of the land by the co-op association took place in February 2009 and building works began one month later in March 2009. The construction was completed in September 2010 and ownership was transferred to the residents in June 2011. The planning phase was accompanied by an intensive participatory process. The co-op association organised four to five planning meetings with the future residents, each of which took the form of a workshop spanning several days. The residents were given the opportunity to draw up a list of criteria outlining their respective wishes for the apartments and the outdoor areas. A proposal was then developed and put forward for discussion in so-called general meetings with all the residents: 60 – 70 people including children. General alterations were then agreed on before progressing on to individual discussions with each party regarding their specific needs.

The financing of the construction phase (from purchase of the site to transferral of ownership to the residents) was organised by the co-op association but the contributions were made and/or securities provided by the individual members.After completion, the project was financed directly by the members themselves.

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Originally published in: Annette Becker, Laura Kienbaum, Kristien Ring, Peter Cachola Schmal, Bauen und Wohnen in Gemeinschaft / Building and Living in Communities, Birkhäuser, 2015.