The world’s oldest social housing complex, the Fuggerei in Augsburg, Germany, has begun the celebration of its 500th anniversary, launching a 5-week programme of interdisciplinary discussions and events about social housing and current global challenges. At the centre of the celebration is the NEXT500 Pavilion, designed by MVRDV, which opened in the presence of numerous dignitaries and the founders of the Fuggerei, the Fugger family. Tomorrow, shows an MVRDV study on the “Fuggerei of the Future”, presenting a new Fuggerei code and three proposals for new Fuggerei complexes around the world.The pavilion is a long, narrow, gabled building, its form inspired by the long terraced houses of the Fuggerei itself. However, rather than a single straight block, one end of the pavilion is curved and raised up to suggest its role in looking out to the future Fuggereien, both in Augsburg and around the world. This lifted end forms an 8.5-metre cantilever that houses a tribune for lectures, debates, workshops and other cultural events. The walls, floor, and roof are built from prefabricated cross-laminated timber panels, an approach that offers a number of sustainability benefits: the wood stores carbon, while the CLT panels make the pavilion demountable and easy to relocate, ensuring it can have a second life within a sustainable or social context. In addition, the wood is sourced from the Fuggerei’s own forests, and a local carpenter created the wooden interiors.Inside the pavilion, visitors can experience an exhibition on the “Fuggerei of the Future”. Though the Fuggerei was founded in 1521 by the German merchant Jakob Fugger, in these times of housing shortage, climate crisis, social inequality, and isolation, the sustainability-oriented and people-centred concept of the Fuggerei still offers a model for our current era. For the exhibition, MVRDV and the Fugger Foundation studied the existing complex in Augsburg and, in line with the Fuggerei’s newly written “Fuggerei Code”, distilled the complex’s formula for successful social housing. The result is eight simple “building blocks” that provide the basis for a system for new Fuggerei that can be adapted to differing contexts worldwide. These building blocks are also referenced in the pavilion’s internal layout, with eight different spaces for the exhibition and events inspired by the eight building blocks.
The world’s oldest social housing complex, the Fuggerei in Augsburg, Germany, has begun the celebration of its 500th anniversary, launching a 5-week programme of interdisciplinary discussions and events about social housing and current global challenges. At the centre of the celebration is the NEXT500 Pavilion, designed by MVRDV, which opened in the presence of numerous dignitaries and the founders of the Fuggerei, the Fugger family. Tomorrow, shows an MVRDV study on the “Fuggerei of the Future”, presenting a new Fuggerei code and three proposals for new Fuggerei complexes around the world.The pavilion is a long, narrow, gabled building, its form inspired by the long terraced houses of the Fuggerei itself. However, rather than a single straight block, one end of the pavilion is curved and raised up to suggest its role in looking out to the future Fuggereien, both in Augsburg and around the world. This lifted end forms an 8.5-metre cantilever that houses a tribune for lectures, debates, workshops and other cultural events. The walls, floor, and roof are built from prefabricated cross-laminated timber panels, an approach that offers a number of sustainability benefits: the wood stores carbon, while the CLT panels make the pavilion demountable and easy to relocate, ensuring it can have a second life within a sustainable or social context. In addition, the wood is sourced from the Fuggerei’s own forests, and a local carpenter created the wooden interiors.Inside the pavilion, visitors can experience an exhibition on the “Fuggerei of the Future”. Though the Fuggerei was founded in 1521 by the German merchant Jakob Fugger, in these times of housing shortage, climate crisis, social inequality, and isolation, the sustainability-oriented and people-centred concept of the Fuggerei still offers a model for our current era. For the exhibition, MVRDV and the Fugger Foundation studied the existing complex in Augsburg and, in line with the Fuggerei’s newly written “Fuggerei Code”, distilled the complex’s formula for successful social housing. The result is eight simple “building blocks” that provide the basis for a system for new Fuggerei that can be adapted to differing contexts worldwide. These building blocks are also referenced in the pavilion’s internal layout, with eight different spaces for the exhibition and events inspired by the eight building blocks.
