WIR MACHEN DAS! Wohnraum für Alle + Home not Shelter

The exhibition “WIR MACHEN DAS! Wohnraum für Alle + Home not Shelter” at the Architekturgalerie München investigates the hot topic of housing for refugees that will also be explored in the German Pavilion at the 15th Architecture Biennial in Venice - coming up with practical ideas to provide housing and not just temporary shelter. 



Living and integrating are the fundamental themes of many initiatives in Germany, particularly in Munich, a border town that takes in refugees arriving via the Balkan Route. So the “culture of hospitality” in Munich has become a real symbol in this period of history where the management of a humanitarian crisis and the movement of people seeking refuge is taking on a key political role.



The Deutscher Werkbund Baviera has therefore launched the initiative called WOHNRAUM FÜR ALLE (living spaces for everyone) together with “Home not Shelter!” by the Hans Sauer foundation to respond to these increasingly pressing social issues.





If housing is a fundamental right - as the World Habitat Awards reminded us - then we have to build something that really is a home, a place that safeguards human dignity. It's no coincidence that the German Pavilion at the 15th Architecture Biennial in Venice is also exploring this theme with “Making Heimat. Germany, Arrival Country” curated by Peter Cochola Schmal from the DAM in Frankfurt.





The results of the initiative - with more than 100 submissions from designers, architects and students - will be on show at the Architekturgalerie München, which has been divided into theme rooms for the occasion, each one exploring the fundamental aspects of this challenge: integration, compacting existing structures, modular buildings, flexibility, self-building, interior makeovers. The whole thing is aimed at quick-build, affordable constructions.



The exhibition opens on 9 March, and it will be followed by four days of dedicated events including a conference, guided tours and workshops by the Deutscher Werkbund (German association of craftsmen), the Bundesstiftung Baukultur (German federal foundation for the culture of building), the association of architects in Bavaria and the Hans Sauer foundation.

Christiane Bürklein

Exhibition: “WIR MACHEN DAS! Wohnraum für Alle + Home not Shelter” 
from 9 March (vernissage) to 10 April 2016
Architekturgalerie München, Germany
Find out more: 
http://www.architekturgalerie-muenchen.de
http://www.bda-bayern.de
http://wohnraum-fuer-alle.de