Living Simply in Puchheim
- Frank Kaltenbach
Affordable housing has become the most important urban planning issue in the city of Munich. Along the city's western urban fringe, in Puchheim, the municipal housing development agency created an ensemble consisting of four timber houses for people in need. It harmonises self-evidently with the surrounding dispersed settlement patterns and their pitched roof houses. Its design and construction type, however, set new standards. The four houses, each featuring two storeys on a square shaped plan, are grouped around an interior courtyard and slightly offset from one another. The courtyard is shielded from the street by a one storey building services structure, complemented by a covered outdoor area. The human scale, the selection of natural materials, friendly colours and a community courtyard are all supposed to convey a feeling of safety to residents with mental health issues.
