Since 2019, Marie-Louise, Malou for short, has run the Instagram account "wiewienwohnt" ("how Vienna lives"), which now has more than 88,000 followers. She started it together with a friend and has done everything herself since 2020. For a long time the account ran alongside a full-time job in social media; today it is her profession. Malou grew up in Vienna; her mother is Polish and her father Austrian. In conversation with Alena Gröfler, she explains how the idea came to her on a walk, why she has never turned anyone down and what good living means to her.
HOMEISSUE How many apartments in Vienna have you seen by now?
Malou I think I've definitely visited over 200 myself. There are also a few I visited a second time, because the people had moved or wanted to take part again. Everyone may and should take part. That's why I never say no.
Malou used to work 40 hours a week and then photograph apartments from Friday to Sunday, around 15 in a weekend, she thinks. Today it varies: on the morning of the recording it was two apartments, the week before six. At some point the double load became far too much. She really enjoyed it, she says, but by Sunday her social battery was "completely dead". On Monday she had to go back to a job that involved a lot of talking, and eventually she couldn't do it any more.
LOOKING THROUGH WINDOWS
The idea for "wiewienwohnt" came on a walk. Malou loves walking, and like many people she looks through windows as she goes and wonders how the people inside live. She never had a master plan, only that curiosity. "Vienna is so multicultural, it's so interesting to see how different every district looks," she says. At first, though, she thought "nobody would be interested in nonsense like that", because people in Vienna tend to be very private. She photographed friends and family, back then still with her analogue camera, until it became far too expensive. The right moment came with the first lockdown. She believes people felt less lonely then, and some of them got in touch with her.
What fascinates you most about how people live?
I think an apartment often says more about a person than words. I love it when I walk into an apartment and immediately sense: someone with a story lives here. I always try to capture that with respect and curiosity. It isn't always about interior perfection, but about a feeling the person shows in their home. We see a lot on social media and let ourselves be inspired, but in the end, when you get to know the person, you realise: this is you.
Are there details you pay particular attention to when you walk into an apartment?
Maybe the smell, and actually also how much natural light comes in. That is always the very first thing people bring up. Some don't get much light because the windows are so small; others don't like the main light and always switch on the side lamps. That's what I love about it. No apartment looks exactly like the next.
TRUST AND COMMUNITY
At first Malou didn't show herself on the account at all, and nobody knew who was behind it. When she turned up at the door, many people thought five guys with a whole camera crew were about to arrive. Instead she came alone, "just me and my phone". She builds trust by telling people in advance that nothing is published without their consent. "Nothing gets posted without their yes or their thumbs up or whatever," she says. She now retouches windows so that nobody can tell which part of a district someone lives in. At first, people didn't even realise such things could be recognised. "There are crazy people out there who would immediately recognise who lives where."
Are there apartments or people you turn down?
No, not at all. It really is only about the apartment and how the personality is reflected in it. That's what I want to show, even if someone lives in a completely minimalist way. That's how the person feels comfortable, and that is beautiful for them too.
Who gets in touch with you, younger people or older ones?
From young to old. There are 18-year-olds who have just moved out of Hotel Mum and Dad. The oldest person I've photographed so far is, I think, 98. Her daughter approached me, wanted to take part and offered that I could film her mother too. That was also my first house, and I was really happy about it.
Still, Malou continues to contact people she finds interesting herself, because it should remain an exchange. She doesn't like the word family for it, because it reminds her of job interviews where everyone says that. She would rather call it a trustworthy community. Nobody has to send pictures in advance.
WHAT MAKES VIENNA
What sets living in Vienna apart from other cities?
I think there are a lot of contrasts here. The art collections in people's homes are also much bigger than in other cities, from what I've seen in apartments elsewhere. And because it's so multicultural, I always find decor from other cultures, from travels. I think, first, we love to travel, and second, we love to show it in our homes, because we always bring something back.
Is there a Viennese style of living?
No, not at all. People look at a lot online and get inspired, but it really is always different. What I love is that so many people now buy secondhand furniture. The pieces always come from Vienna and then get passed on.
Two apartments have stayed with her in particular. One is in the 22nd district and has a pink staircase in the entrance hall. The other belongs to Tom in the 8th district, an art collector who, she believes, works in finance. His wall is hung with many plates he found at flea markets, and the kitchen is done in gold, "not kitschy, but really cool, Jugendstil". She went back last summer and is still fascinated. Simply ringing a doorbell somewhere and asking would probably end with a no in Vienna, she thinks. Vienna is very special, "sometimes a bit grumpy, but also completely open". Now she walks past certain streets and knows that she has already photographed an apartment there.
Next, she would like to develop the format further, perhaps in other cities or as a magazine. But the main focus will stay on Vienna, because there is still so much to see there. She is also planning a coffee table book without a publisher. She doesn't want to finance it through classic crowdfunding but through a supper club, cooked by her boyfriend and his colleague. The first took place in a hotel in the 3rd district, and the next might be outdoors in a garden or somewhere a little stranger. She always wants to give something back, "and the best way is always food".
HOME
Period buildings, Malou says, will always be popular on Instagram. But she herself could never live in a period apartment. Her boyfriend lives in one; she loves going there and feels at home with him. Still, she feels most comfortable under low ceilings, which is how she grew up.
How do you live yourself?
That question is always so hard. I've lived in social housing for more than ten years. I love it here, and I never want to move out. There's lots of colour, things from my parents and from my travels. Somehow it's a kind of chaos, but with a system. I always thought that maybe "wiewienwohnt" would help me find a style of my own. But I think that if I have a mix like this, different colours that go well together, and my cat is happy, then I'm happy too.
What does home mean to you?
For me, home is a place where I don't have to perform, where I can really breathe out. It's less a question of style than of a feeling. I think good living is when you're not constantly thinking I should, but I may, or it may simply be as it is. That's how I feel most at ease here, too.
She is a bit of a collector, she admits. She would love to collect as many analogue Japanese calendars, the kind you flip by hand, as possible. She also loves lamps and stickers, which she collected in sticker albums as a child and which, she feels, are making a comeback. She has no rules about what to avoid in a home. "If you have it and you like it, keep it," she says. If not, you should sell it or give it away. She loves old-fashioned Italian houses and creative, colourful tiles, and she would most like to live somewhere by the sea. "If Vienna had a sea, then yes." For her, every good home needs light, her couch and something a little crazy that works as a conversation starter.
The full conversation with Malou is available on the HOMEISSUE Podcast with Alena Gröfler.