Despite the shortage of living space – the demands on the homes of tomorrow are increasing. It’s about more than just a roof over our heads. It’s not just digitalization that is changing the way we live and work; sustainable building solutions are needed above all. In addition, factors such as proximity to nature and a social mix in the living environment play a major role for all age groups.
Cover picture: Edward Beierle
Nowadays, if you’re making a magazine about housing, you want to cover a lot of things. Since we definitely lack living space in Germany and it’s not just the big cities that are bursting at the seams, solutions are needed. Unfortunately, the current government does not seem to be providing any impetus to counteract the housing shortage. The strategy of throwing excessively high figures into the room and then hiding in the shadows has not worked for all ministers in the past either.
But the next election is sure to come. As a country and, above all, as a society, we are losing important time and many opportunities as a result. Of course, the construction crisis is slowing us down, and of course the construction crisis is being felt most strongly in the housing sector. But Germany needs more living space. We certainly do not want to ignore this problem in this issue. Nor do we want to make the construction crisis smaller than it is.
However, this Baumeister is about the housing of tomorrow. As a result, we need to get a grip on today’s problems and crises. We need more living space and not as much office space as we did five years ago. Nevertheless, one area must not outdo the other, and pressure must be increased in the right places. The bureaucratic hurdles that are difficult to overcome are slowing down residential construction, in addition to high costs and a lack of building land. This is not the fault of the construction industry, the architect or the client.
Not least in this issue, it becomes clear that we need more radical solutions at a political and European level. In this issue, exciting and mostly affected people have their say, looking to the future and formulating proposed solutions that will help us to realize the housing of tomorrow.
We also speculate on the role of the bathroom in future homes and take a look at some truly unique housing projects that have already been realized. After all, living must be possible for everyone. Not just for a well-heeled upper class, and we are currently seeing in cities such as Munich and Berlin that housing is not equally possible for everyone.
In addition, there is a high number of homeless people, and as a society we are facing major challenges such as poverty in old age and all the other effects of demographic change. So we can no longer afford to wait for other ministers, governments and parties.
The aim must be to counter a crisis situation like the current one with as much ingenuity and, above all, courage as possible.
This Baumeister is intended to encourage and hopefully help us to find new approaches that allow us to build the basis for tomorrow’s living today. I hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to your feedback. Please don’t forget to visit us online on our social channels.
The magazine is available here in the store!
Our April issue is all about facades! Read more about it here.