VORNE — HINTEN, WIE WIRD AUS WOHNHÄUSERN STADT?

architektur.aktuell, 28 May 2017 “If we didn’t have these conferences inaugurated back in 2010, we would have to invent them. In Germany there is in the meantime no other forum with a more prominent line-up for discussing the changing topics of urban development. … Despite differing opinions, all agreed on one thing: In contrast to the straightforward housing estate, the thing that characterises a vibrant urban district is the mix of different uses.”

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 8 May 2017 “If new residential developments are really intended to create lively urban districts, then they also need corner shops and small start-up businesses or workshops in backyards just as much as playgrounds and gardens. … But what does that mean for architectural and urban planning concepts? … In contrast to housing estates, where all sides are the same, in urban settings there are fronts, which define public spaces, and backs, which are private. At the front the façade wears collar and tie, at the back, pyjamas or a tracksuit.”

Bauwelt, 13 June 2017 “How does housing make a town? … Christoph Mäckler and Wolfgang Sonne are our hosts for tackling this problem, i.e. the rejection of the anti-urban housing estate ideology of the 1960s and 1970s, which is still preferred – even in competitions. … Quality is not defined by the density of housing frequently called for, instead by the difference between the public and private functions of a single building.”

2018 by DOM publishers, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-86922-693-4, Christoph Mäckler, Wolfgang Sonne (ed.)