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. 

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 housing through its own vision for the future of similar developments, a charge that has been at the center of the firm’s work since its founding in 1993.

“MVRDV has a long history with housing projects—in fact, one of our first realized designs was for a housing project in Amsterdam, called WoZoCo”, MVRDV co-founder Jacob van Rijs said in a statement. “Since then, we have designed all kinds of housing, all over the world, from Madrid to Tianjin. But the fascinating history of the Fuggerei makes it unlike anything we’ve worked on. It goes to show how diverse housing can be as a topic of exploration; no matter how many approaches you imagine, there are always other ways.”

The firm’s entry takes its design from the Fuggerei’s historic houses, featuring a gabled roof and elevated cantilever bookend. The CLT structure will play host to a lecture hall and auditorium space with views that look out onto the adjoining town square. The project will be realized by May 6th of next year.