Following the great wave of refugees who arrived in Germany in 2015 (close to 900,000), around 300,000听still live in emergency accommodation such as air domes or high school gyms.听With such an influx of people, the need for affordable housing in metropolitan areas was urgent and prompted听architects, urban planners and cities to produce suitable and sustainable lodging.听Making Heimat, Germany. Arrival Country | Atlas of Refugee Housing听蹿谤辞尘 takes stock of the various types of housing available in German arrival cities, expanding on the听‘s archive of听the shifting urban landscape, in one volume.
A continuation of the museum’s contribution to the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennial and its accompanying catalogue,听Atlas of Refugee Housing听is an up-to-date inventory of housing projects which have been completed and are currently being finalised. Within the Biennial听exhibition,听the museum听explored the conditions for successful integration. The original catalogue,听Making Heimat, Germany. Arrival Country, drew international recognition and encouraged DAM director Peter Cachola Schmal, along with Oliver Elser and Anna Scheuermann, to pursue听their research into urban development as a key factor in successful integration: is a prime example of this. The website catalogues the progress of refugee housing on an ongoing basis.
Making Heimat, Germany. Arrival Country | Atlas of Refugee Housing, is a听second, independent publication that closely examines the changes that have occurred in society and politics since October 2015. A听current听inventory, it features a selection of 57 buildings throughout the entire country that are used for housing refugees. The publication is not a collection of ‘best practices’, but an image of reality. Successfully implemented, universal model projects, such as the roofing of a parking lot in Munich, are presented, as well as regional specifics, such as the ‘Kassel model’, with its team of local architects that design large-scale听building projects that can be repurposed afterwards.
In addition, the rescheduling, downscaling and elimination of outstanding projects has been documented. The Biennial exhibition, along with updated and expanded themes and a retrospective of Venice, can be seen until 10 September at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt.
Making Heimat, Germany. Arrival Country | Atlas of Refugee Housing,听published by Hatje Cantz, is now available.
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Credits
1. Refugee Housing Project. Copyright Anja Weber.听www.makingheimat.de.
