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SUSI (housing project)



The SUSI (in German "Selbstorganisierte unabhängige Siedlungsinitiative") is an independent and self-organized housing project in Vauban, a district in Freiburg, that has existed since 1993. The four houses are home to 260 people, with additional residents living in the dozen construction trailers between the buildings. SUSI is a member of the "Mietshäuser Syndikat", a slighly provocative, ambiguous name that can be roughly translated as "Renters Mafia Club").

General
After the French army's withdrawal from Freiburg in 1992, 38 hectars of land that had been part of the previous Vauban Barracks became available. The district Vauban would be built on this land in the subsequent years, parallel to a wider debate on urban planning and how the area should be used. Initially, the city administration of Freiburg planned to demolish all the barrack buildings where the SUSI houses A (Vaubanallee 2) to D (Vaubanallee 8) are today. However, the houses were bought by the federal government and renovated and preserved instead.

History
The 1990s were characterized by a shortage of apartments in Freiburg, especially big ones suitable to become shared flats for students. Because of that, rents increased rapidly. This situation was alleviated by these military buildings, vacant since late 1937 or early 1938. The idea to use the buildings for housing was first developed by a group of students, who maintained that most parts of the houses and, in particular, the 24 barracks buildings should not be demolished or commercialized, but maintained instead. They also added that the buildings were in good condition and built with environmentally compatible materials. Ultimately, only a few of these houses were preserved (apart from SUSI, also the Haus 037 in the district center, for example).

At the end of 1990, the association Selbstorganisierte Unabhängige Siedlungsinitiative e.V. was founded and in 1992 the Freiburg municipal council decided to hand over four barracks to SUSI. In summer 1993 the use ("stille Besetzung") of house C began, in autumn a general lease agreement for all four houses was signed. The purchase of the houses as well as the signing of the heritable building right contract for the properties by SUSI GmbH Wohn- und Beschäftigungsprojekt took place in January 1995. In order to prevent a possible reprivatisation, the project decided in 1997 to become a member of the "Mietshäuser-Syndikat". In the spring of 1998, all four houses with their 45 residential units were converted and ready for occupancy; since then work has focused in particular on further improving the energy efficiency of the buildings.

Ideas and concepts
At the heart of the SUSI concept is self-administration: the General Assembly as the highest body is at the top of the administrative hierarchy; working groups and committees carry out the concrete thematic work. Details are coordinated in a decentralized manner within the two to ten-member residential groups/shared flats as well as within workshops (carpentry, pottery), the café (with political and cultural events), sports/climbing rooms or the children's cellar. The residents are thus tenants and landlords at the same time.

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Weblinks

 * www.susi-projekt.de
 * Webseite des Stadtteilvereins Vauban
 * Webseite des Nachbarschaftshauses Haus 37
 * Interview mit einer SUSI-Bewohnerin vom 10. Januar 2008 (Radio Unerhört, Marburg)
 * Interview in der TAZ vom 7. Oktober 2003 zu Mietshäuser-Syndikat und SUSI
 * Dokumentation des SWR 2002 zu Vauban mit ausführlichem Blick auf SUSI
 * Abenteuerspielplatz für Erwachsene in: Wochenzeitung Die Zeit Nr. 7/2011