Ausgabe 9.2023

Issue 3.2025

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Mixed, Compact, Affordable, Liveable

Building plots are becoming scarce, housing costs are soaring, and apartments in new developments are shrinking. Properties long considered unsuitable or uneconomical for building are now being developed, and residential units are increasingly stacked – side by side and on top of each other – into ever-larger blocks. Standardisation and industrial prefabrication seem indespensible – is this an echo of the 1970s?

Today, unlike the car-oriented satellite towns of postwar modernism, there is a renewed commitment to the European pedestrian city. The model has shifted from suburban houses to urban living. This means mixed housing arrangements with communal spaces for social interaction, and high-quality, functional, affordable apartments within compact footprints – sometimes with integrated art studios. Ground-floor zones – hosting cultural centres, supermarkets, coworking spaces, kindergartens, or changing rooms for a nearby school’s sports field – foster neighbourhood cohesion, reduce travel distances, and advance car-free cities. Above all, communal spaces and integrated facilities make compact living more bearable – much like corner pubs or coffee houses served as informal living rooms in early 20th century metropolises.

For this issue, Sabine Drey and I explored outstanding housing projects in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brooklyn, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Vienna, showcasing innovative responses to urban challenges. Modern buildings, even those meeting today’s energy standards, still need to prove their long-term viability against their concrete counterparts from the 1970s. Housing developments like Alt-Erlaa in Vienna or the Olympic Village in Munich have thrived for half a century and remain as popular now as they were when they were completed. Frank Kaltenbach

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Increasing Density

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