33 architectural firms from Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, among others, have presented the design for WerkBundStadt Berlin. Around 1,100 new apartments are to be built in 38 buildings on 2.8 hectares of land. A critique of the project in the deutsche bauzeitung (db) reminds readers of the historical heritage in which the project stands: "It is laudable that the Deutscher Werkbund is speaking out with a contribution. After all, it is precisely the Werkbund housing estates from Stuttgart to Breslau, Prague, Vienna and Zurich that stand for the experimental living worlds of modernism. It was about housing for the subsistence level, small apartments, variable floor plans, new building materials and prefabrication, and last but not least about the coexistence of generations and society." The WerkBundStadt is quite clearly a break in content from the previous less dense WerkBundSiedlungen and for this reason alone an important statement, particularly with regard to the mix of uses and building density. Nevertheless, the designs are not very innovative in terms of sustainability. Unfortunately, the designers make it too easy for themselves by treating the issue solely with the concept of natural ventilation and a high building density. In this way, the WerkBundStadt falls far behind the standards developed in recent decades for sustainable housing. If this building exhibition is to have any charisma, if it is to communicate groundbreaking transferable concepts, then many of the themes of sustainable urban development and housing are missing. If the WerkBundStadt remains as it is at present, the building exhibition would probably become an interesting collection of contemporary architectural sculptures on an urbanistic scale, but it would lack central themes of the 21st century!
In the past decades, resolutions towards sustainable development have been repeatedly made the subject of discussion and politically adopted, also by the worldwide architecture and urban planning associations. In 2003, it was the "New Athens Charter. Vision for the Cities of the 21st Century." by the European council of town planners. And in 2007 the "Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities".
In terms of world politics, the most recent three agreements should be mentioned:
- 2015 the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in New York and the adoption of the SDGs 2030
- 2016 Paris Climate Conference
- and also in 2016 the world settlement conference Habitat III in Quito (New urban agenda).
These agreements clearly state that the sustainable conversion/design of existing and new settlements and neighbourhoods will play a central role in achieving the agreed policy objectives.
For further reading:
Manifestos and political agreements from 1958: https://siedlungen.eu/manifeste-und-abkommen
Blog with many photos about the developments (until the end of 2016): www.architektur-urbanistik.berlin/...werkbundstadt...
A review of WerkBundStadt in the db (12/2016): www.db-bauzeitung.de/...
Keywords: Expo, News Blog Berlin, Planning offices, Quarters
