Cooperative, shared and self-determined – can it work? Not far from Graz, the KooWo community housing project is making this idea a reality. Over a four-year development and construction period, the model of shared living was developed in a moderated participation process and implemented in 2019. A traditional three-sided farmhouse was converted into a communal house with a variety of uses. Three sustainable residential buildings made of wood were built, arranged to form a village square. With the shared spaces, koo-working, workshops, a planned commercial building, farm shop and café, the aim is to connect with the community. Permaculture farming organised on the basis of solidarity will also be practised on around three hectares. The owner of the land and buildings is the WoGen cooperative, founded in 2015 for communal living projects. The ‘KooWos’ are tenants, cooperative members and as such also landlords.
KooWo – Kooperatives Wohnen, (cooperative living), Eggersdorf bei Graz, seit 2019
wohnlabor, Verein Kooperatives Wohnen Volkersdorf, Die WoGen – Wohnprojekte-Genossenschaft
Project partners: schwarz.platzer.architekten, realitylab gmbh, Gartenplanung Ehmeier, AEE Intec Gleisdorf, Soziokratiezentrum Österreich and Christine Amon Feldmann MA
Funding body: FFG Stadt der Zukunft
