Barbara Nothegger

born in 1978, studied commercial science in Vienna and Mexico City. She has worked as a business journalist for many years and has written for publications including ‘Die Zeit’, ‘Trend’, ‘Kurier’ and ‘Fleisch Magazin’. In 2013, she moved into Wohnprojekt Wien with her husband and two sons. The house received the Austrian State Prize for Architecture and Sustainability in 2014 and will be honoured with the UN World Habitat Award in 2025 together with the other residential projects planned by einszueins Architekten.

Barbara Nothegger - The Seven-Story Village

Experiments in Housing for a Better Future

Our homes have a big impact on what kind of lives we lead—whether we are lonely, how much we are contributing to climate change, how hard we have to work to cover the cost of our housing. When Barbara Nothegger started looking for a new home for her young family, she became fascinated by these very questions. Despite many objections, she decided to risk an experiment, moving with her family into a communal living project in Vienna. A hundred people built a home for themselves, which included various shared areas and open spaces for residents to come together, share and interact. After more than ten years in the building, Nothegger explores in this humorous guidebook what makes modern communities succeed, and how being a good neighbour can help facilitate climate-friendly living.