Teaching at the Institute of Housing and Design
An integral part of the teaching of needs-based and future-proof forms of housing construction is the concern for their ecological-energetic, social and economic sustainability. This includes the increased involvement with building in existing buildings. The beginning of the century already shows the first deep traces of a major global change. One of the main causes of this change has long been known to us all: the unstoppable decline in fossil fuels. The increasing hunger for energy of a population that continues to increase worldwide will hit residential construction with great force. Here are all levels affected: both individual elements (apartment and building) and in all its complexity (city).
Half a century after the appearance of Konrad Wachsmann 's "Turning Point in Building", Stuttgart, 1959, which saw industrialized and prefabricated construction as a turning point, the most important turning points in housing construction are summarized from the basis of teaching experience and office practice as follows: 1 People and society, 2. substance and energy, 3. space and time. The greatest sustainability is provided by durable, durable buildings, even if they require a larger initial energy investment. But what features must buildings have that require a high "half-life"? Above all else, to avoid premature demolition, you have to be beautiful! Even if the experts themselves - and with the non-experts - argue about this concept, he represents a key in my view, although beauty can not be put on any formula. "Beauty as Value" This controversial requirement is usually lost in short-term yield assessments. The experience of the past teaches us that mostly only esteemed, beautiful buildings are granted lasting success. This success must be combined with a resilient building structure that allows for changes. Flexibility in housing is becoming one of the most important goals in order to meet requirements that are not yet apparent in the future. This essentially affects the size and organization of the living spaces.
The challenges for future housing construction are enormous. Since we already lay the essential content for the urban structures and buildings until the end of this century, a rethinking of values based on the current abundance on the one hand and legal minimum standards on the other is inevitable. We can still use the existing intellectual and material resources to create the turning point for sustainable housing architecture!
Half a century after the appearance of Konrad Wachsmann 's "Turning Point in Building", Stuttgart, 1959, which saw industrialized and prefabricated construction as a turning point, the most important turning points in housing construction are summarized from the basis of teaching experience and office practice as follows: 1 People and society, 2. substance and energy, 3. space and time. The greatest sustainability is provided by durable, durable buildings, even if they require a larger initial energy investment. But what features must buildings have that require a high "half-life"? Above all else, to avoid premature demolition, you have to be beautiful! Even if the experts themselves - and with the non-experts - argue about this concept, he represents a key in my view, although beauty can not be put on any formula. "Beauty as Value" This controversial requirement is usually lost in short-term yield assessments. The experience of the past teaches us that mostly only esteemed, beautiful buildings are granted lasting success. This success must be combined with a resilient building structure that allows for changes. Flexibility in housing is becoming one of the most important goals in order to meet requirements that are not yet apparent in the future. This essentially affects the size and organization of the living spaces.
The challenges for future housing construction are enormous. Since we already lay the essential content for the urban structures and buildings until the end of this century, a rethinking of values based on the current abundance on the one hand and legal minimum standards on the other is inevitable. We can still use the existing intellectual and material resources to create the turning point for sustainable housing architecture!