What is the future shape of social housing? MVRDV looks to the 500-year-old Fuggerei for useful clues

2022-05-11T14:41:00-04:00

A central part of the Fuggerei social housing complex’s 500th anniversary festival of events that began over the weekend, MVRDV’s newly-opened NEXT500 Pavilion examines the future of the all-important typology through the inclusion of proposed designs which would install inspired versions of the historic complex in different areas of the world.

Inside the uniquely-cantilevered wooden pavilion on the central square in Augsburg, Germany, are three different proposals for a ‘Fuggerei of the Future’ spread through eight individual-themed exhibition spaces. The studio claims they are based on the same number of “building blocks” it developed after writing a “Fuggerei Code” using an internal study of the most effective elements of the iconic housing complex constructed in the early 1520s.

Image: © Eckhart Matthäus courtesy MVRDV

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that behind the exhibition is “an admirable sense of citizenship, ...

MVRDV presents a bold update to a historic housing development in Bavaria

2021-08-31T14:57:00-04:00

A dramatic new statement about the arc and future of public housing developments is coming to Bavaria’s third-largest city thanks to a Dutch firm with a reputation for innovative design in the typology.

MVRDV unveiled its concept earlier this month for an exhibition pavilion that will be part of the Fuggerei Foundation’s Next 500 symposium, which will explore the future of social housing using one Augsburg landmark as a reference point for its vision of sustainable public accommodations.

Image © MVRDV

The Fuggerei, which was constructed in the early 1520s using funds from a wealthy banker named Jakob Fugger, is considered to be the oldest social housing development in the world and still charges residents an annual rent equivalent to less than one Euro a year provided certain religious and employment conditions are met.

Now, with history as a guide, the Rotterdam-based firm is hoping to address latter-day social problems such as wealth inequality and the worldwide lack of affordable...

Archinect - News

What is the future shape of social housing? MVRDV looks to the 500-year-old Fuggerei for useful clues

MVRDV presents a bold update to a historic housing development in Bavaria