Soho in Ottakring

SOHO in Ottakring is an urban art project initiated 1999 around a market in the Brunnen quarter of Ottakring, a worker's district in Vienna, Austria. After a long period of annual art festivals, SOHO in Ottakring set a new focus in the same district on Sandleitenhof and the area around it (2013). With approx. 5.000 residents, Sandleitenhof is the largest community housing complex built in the era of social democratic Red Vienna. It was built 1924-1928 on the western edge of Ottakring and designed as a “city within the city”. This also included an infrastructure for all areas of life and age groups: work, living, shopping, education, cultural entertainment, play, rest - all within walking distance. This built vision of the past is again a vision for the future: a city of short distances with affordable housing and high-quality living, which includes culture for young and old in the immediate vicinity as well as vibrant social exchange among different communities. Here, SOHO in Ottakring established a new space called SOHO STUDIOS (2021). After restructuring a former cinema and museum, SOHO STUDIOS now offer a space of 660 square meters to the public as well as six studio spaces to artists for rent. In close collaboration with SOHO, the Vienna Art School uses an additional 160 sqm for art classes. Today, SOHO STUDIOS are an open space for art, culture and social exchange. They are above all a place of cultural proximity and a place where all kinds of creative ideas that serve the neighborhood can be developed, with support offered by the SOHO team.