THE PLUS

In our projects, we – Michael Ziller and the z+ team – are constantly looking for the added value – the “plus” – that goes beyond mere fulfilment of purpose: that which creates a space with character out of a building or an urban situation. z+ thus combines the themes of SPATIAL ART, BUILDING ART and LIFE ART for clients and users.

SPACE ARTS z+ for neighbourhoods and open spaces

We all want liveable, mixed cities. The way to achieve this is through many small decisions and building projects. Densification alone is not enough …

BAUKUNST z+ for a circular economy in construction

Construction is responsible for about 40 % of all greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, questions like these arise before every building project: Dealing with the existing building stock? Choice of materials? Logic of construction? …

LEBENSKUNST z+ for a powerful contribution to building culture

Building culture is a catchword in Sunday speeches and festivities. It raises questions about the big picture, the cultural superstructure beyond investments and real estate …

Jens Achilles, Jessica Bauer, Isabella Bechter, Benjamin Becker, Ute Bergner, Petra Berr, Mareike Boller, Christa Bombardella, Rasmus Dotzler, Berit Eisenmann, Frank Feuchtenbeiner, Andrea Frank, Tristan Franke, Michael Friedel, Marianne Fritz, Stefan Froschhammer, Carlo Frugiuele, Ivaylo Galabov, Egor Goryachev, Matthias Goetz, Sabine Haggenmiller, Evi Heinzlmeier, Peter Hofmann, Melanie Jobst, Maki Jochum, Alar Jost, Anastasia Kantzeloglou, Lea Keilhack, Caroline Klein, Sebastian Klich, Anne-Barbara Kindler, Niya Kiryakova, Milena Kostrukova, Maria Kremsreiter, Johanna Lölhöffel, Mateja Mele, Gianna Yvonne Morávek, Carlos Moya, Aline Müller, Christian Müller, Maximilian Müller, Felix Niemeier, Patricia Pederzolli, Julia Marie Prantl, Sophia Quanz, Maria-Magdalena Renker, Thomas Repper, Christian Rogner, Florian Rothermel, Felix Schaudt, Simone Schiller, Isabella Carmen Schmidt, Oliver Schubert, Anastasia Schubina, Sandra Schuster, Susanne Seufert, Carolin Steffens, Karoline Tausendfreund, Johannes Treibert,  Robert-Christopher Tubbenthal, Andrea Unger, Ana Valenzuela, Oliver Wagner, Michael Ziller

Often pragmatic, occasionally radical – but always genuine.

Authenticity: that’s why clients with particular building tasks are consciously choosing us as architects. We love passion, power of persuasion and a good intuition in order to remain free in our thoughts and precise in their implementation. For this is the way we learn from our projects. Also from apparently insurmountable obstacles, which we see as an incentive for creative solutions.

We build not for ourselves, but for people, with people, and for the city.

Our buildings are not necessarily sculptures in prime city locations. Rather, our buildings reflect fascination for the city, for space, for living, for everyday life. This attitude is prototypical for the work of zillerplus. How do we work to conserve resources with the last plots of land, the last public free space, the last gaps in the townscape? What value can a residual urban area have as an asset for the community? How important is conceptual thinking for urban planning? And how can we introduce towns and communities to these potentials and encourage their acceptance? These are all questions we face every day and answer together with our clients. We do not develop living-machines but rather life concepts for joint building ventures and associations: with people for people.

Housing construction: Where do you come from? Where are you going?

“Wrest living out of its familiar rut!” was the demand of the architecture critic Hanno Rauterberg on the occasion of a laudation in the Berlin Academy of the Arts. We can only agree with him, for our society is currently still nearer in time to nomadic than to settled life. zillerplus wants to push new thinking in housing: where are we going to live in the future, even if only temporarily? Our office wants to pave the way for new, flexible living arrangements. Flexibility here stands not just for generational living but also for typology, spatial design and district structure. To make this possible, alternative financing and support schemes have to be developed for the new renting and sharing strategies – for the benefit of a lively city for all!

Home! This is where people want to live, not just to reside.

How much living space is adequate for everyone? In the present housing debate in this country, the size of the living area, calculated with a rigid allocation formula, is often confused with living quality. Instead of promoting built monotony, we are thinking about how life can return to homes and emotionalism to architecture – to create a new social togetherness with living.

Living better in towns and cities.

Where do we want to live? No longer in a detached house in the country, according to the latest studies. People are streaming into the cities. But with all its challenges – high population density, sufficient light and air, the desire for privacy despite urban constriction and the necessary sound insulation and noise protection – how can urbanity be sustainable and worth living in? Urban areas give us a new juxtaposition of living and working, leisure and recreation. Modern city life gives us hybrid buildings, multipurpose use of residential and commercial buildings, a transformed enlivening and perception of public spaces or new and future-oriented mobility concepts. Must every house in the future really have its own piece of land in our traffic-threatened cities?

The fascination of the vernacular.

Instead of reflecting intensively on the roots of action, society is often tempted by the constant search for innovation, in a form and materiality never seen before. zillerplus is different. We draw our inspiration from the traditional, often for pragmatic and functional reasons, and agglomerations developed and grown locally. Our challenge is to transform their buildings and give them new life through a new spatial structure and usage. For the central question is: How does architecture react appropriately to the urban context of a development that in some cases has grown up over centuries? And where does the new have to subordinate itself; but where on the other hand does it create a new identity and centre? The combination of nature and technology is not a contradiction in terms for zillerplus, but rather – ideally – symbiosis and a meaningful complement.

Love at second glance is profound and honest.

We can become enthusiastic about things that appear unsexy at first glance: unfavourable land layouts, mediocre buildings or high energy efficiency or emission control requirements. The challenge is what drives us. And even in difficult situations, ways can be found to recognise the existing context and develop it further: The right idea for redesignation and reutilisation helps a written-off property to find a new life. We all bear social responsibility for a future with challenges such as resource protection and population growth, rural exodus or urbanisation.

More good and less glamour.

What is the use of iconographic architecture if it exceeds the limits on framework, context and costs – and then ends up as an unloved ruin? For zillerplus, the focus is on good design, intelligent processes and structures, and quality of building. Our signature is manifest not in design paradigms but in the best possible implementation of a building task placed before us. This includes understanding the others’ positions and solving the various tasks in the role of mediator, adviser, designer, planner and psychologist. Here, zillerplus stands at eyelevel for the greater good and for cooperation.

As self-evident as possible. As innovative as necessary.

Architecture, material and handcraft are inseparable. zillerplus is fascinated by the design possibilities of building materials and moved by the sensuality of natural materials. Materiality has a big influence on our architecture. But we don’t just use industrial products. Together with our partners, we experiment and develop designs and materials where we see potentials and chances for new solutions. For example in urban wooden buildings. Here we can exploit the benefits of wood perfectly: economic efficiency thanks to a high degree of prefabrication, precision thanks to skilled craftsmen, sustainability through the immediate CO2 savings, and recyclability as well as an intense emotional attachment to wood by the inhabitants.

Architecture characterises the town and the space where we wish to live.

What makes living together a quality – how does architecture react?

In my view, the entire building is a single large dwelling place, and the actual apartments in this building are individual retreats. This basic idea leads to a housing concept that removes various functions from the purely private living area and makes them accessible to the community – for example, a library, a guest apartment or a washroom. The merging of uses in communal areas that can be reached quickly gives rise to additional housing and life quality. This quality can even be increased if the ground floor and roof areas are opened up to inhabitants and made attractive. In densely populated urban areas, you can hardly live on the ground floor anyway – it’s part of the town and should be treated as such. All in all, the quality of living in a city is a question of organisation, and this is where architecture plays an important role because it provides the framework for ground-breaking solutions.

What types of housing do we need in order to be equipped for the future?

First of all, we mainly need versatile and varied living concepts. After all, the rigid standard plan for a family with two children no longer applies for most of the population – plus the fact that the amount of room we need changes according to our age – sometimes more, sometimes less. We have to develop architectural concepts that react to this fact and offer people options for adapting their living situations to the respective living conditions. If residential units are carefully planned, the amount of living space per inhabitant can be reduced and at the same time improved in quality. But this can only succeed if various functions of the apartment that are not used daily are transferred to communicative community areas. Densification in towns also gives us the opportunity to create more living quality.

Growing numbers of inhabitants are causing great housing problems for towns and cities. To what extent is this development a chance for architecture and urban construction?

Housing has become a central political topic in the last few years. I see it as a chance for an intensive confrontation with housing programmes, ground-plan typologies and the urban context. Ultimately, we finally have to overcome the strict function divisions of post-war modernism, which separated living, working and leisure. Existing estates and purely residential areas also need a greater mixture of shops, utilities and childcare to give us shorter routes for all ages. In this respect, renovation gives us an opportunity to correct mistakes from the past and create lively residential areas.

What is the meaning of ecology and economy for your projects?

As part of the “Case Study Houses” of the Hamburg International Building Exhibition and the GBW Group in Munich, we have built exemplary model houses for a future-oriented energy concept and for sustainable materials. In my opinion, the appropriate handling of existing resources plays a central role in the future of housing construction. It was important for me to judge ecological aspects according to economic criteria and thoroughly inspect all measures. Our aim was to build two energy self-sufficient houses. However, we can only do this is if we understand the house not as a separate unit but as a module in a comprehensive district energy network. In such a network, the energy surpluses and requirements in summer and winter can be sold, stored or consumed according to needs. The local community with different usages is absolutely decisive for energy supply questions. Additionally, cars and bikes can be used for energy storage. As far as the materials of both projects are concerned, we restricted ourselves to local resources – wood or brickwork. The materials come from the region, so our building promoted local craft industries.

Why do ecological measures need bold innovations and unconventional approaches?

Changes are always connected at first with insecurities. This calls for bold clients and architects. The property market has to react to changes in society – and we need architectural concepts that suggest forward-looking solutions. Good architecture can provide this if it goes for compact, dense buildings with diverse living styles. Thanks to the calculated mixture of living, working and leisure, urban space takes on decisive qualities. For me, architecture and urban development in this context are not defined by individual projects. I understand them far more as an ongoing process.

• Architekturgalerie München, “Form Follows Position” – Wohnen mit der Atmosphäre des Ortes, München 2018
• Architekturgalerie München, “Initiative WOHNRAUM FÜR ALLE”, München 2016
• M:AI Museum für Architektur und Ingenieurkunst NRW, Ausstellung „Neue Lust am Material“, Gelsenkirchen, 2013
• Architekturgalerie München, IBA Hamburg “Case Study Houses” Wohnen im 21. Jahrhundert, 2013
• IBA Hamburg, Neue Mitte Wilhelmsburg, Präsentationsjahr 2013
• Ausstellung zur Architekturwoche München, A4, Architekturgalerie, 2008
• „Vorschläge für das Sanierungsgebiet Petuelring”, Plantreff LH München, Herbst 2006
• “grüüüün” in München, Rathausgalerie München, Sommer 2004
• „Wohnen findet statt”, Rathausgalerie München, Frühjahr 2002
• Förderpreis der LH München, Ausstellung der Vorschläge der Jury, Kunstraum Lothringerstasse, 2001
• Projekte der ehemaligen Studenten der Akademie der Bildenden Künste, München, 1996
• „Stadt im Fluss – die Teile und das Ganze”, Haus der Architektur, Graz 1990

• Dokumentation Nachlese, Wiedergeburt der Stadt? Neue Urbanität für München!,  Fachgespräch 16.5.2018, Bayerische Hausbau
• „Süddeutsche Zeitung“ 11.07.2018, „Feinsinniger Entwurf“, Artikel über Projekt Freisinger Landstraße, München
• „Die Welt“ 21. November 2015 „In der Welt zu Hause“, Interview mit Michael Ziller
• Zeitschrift „CUBE“ Ausgabe München, „Holz erlebt ein Comeback“, Seite 19+20, Ausgabe 02/15
• Zeitschrift „Mikado“ „Holz zeigt Profil“, Ausgabe 03/2015, Seite 16 – 23, ISSN 0944-5749, WEKA Medien GmbH
• Weissbuch IBA INTERNATIONALE BAUAUSSTELLUNG HAMBURG, Smart Material House, Smart ist Grün, Juni 2013
• Zeitschrift „lignardo“ Zeitschrift für Holzbau und Architektur, Dezember 2013 „Urbanes Bauen“ Stadt München setzt auf Holz, Projekt Mainzer Strasse, zillerplus, Seite 24 – 35, ISSN 2196-5366, Ausgabe 3/2013
• Buch „ECO Living, „Smart is Green“ Seite 326-329, ISBN 978-3-03768-149-7, Autor: Chris von Uffelen, Braun Publishing AG, Schweiz, 2013
• Zeitschrift „DBZ“ Deutsche Bauzeitschrift 9/2013 Fassade „Energie Spezial“ Smarte Hülle, Case Study House „Smart ist Grün“ IBA Hamburg, Seite 86 – 91, ISSN 0011-4782, 61. Jahrgang 2013
• Zeitschrift „DETAIL“ „Bahnhöfe und Haltestellen“ Smart ist Grün – Wohnhaus für die IBA Hamburg, Seite 1030 – 1032, ISSN 0011-9571, B2772, 53. Serie 2013
• Bayerischer Rundfunk, BR2, 19.07.2012 Notizbuch „Architektur und Sehnsucht“ – Live-Interview mit Michael Ziller
• Bayerischer Rundfunk, BR2
• Dezember 2010 „Prachtfassaden, Lebensräume“ -Wie sich an der Architektur unsere Werte ablesen lassen
• ARCH+ 198 „IBA-Wettbewerbe“ Ausgabe Mai 2010
• BDA Nachrichten Bayern „Wert_Struktur und Ästhetik“, Text von Michael Ziller, Seite 10 – 12, Ausgabe 02/2009
• Bundesbaublatt „Maikäfersiedlung“ von Rita Jacobs, Seite 18-19, Ausgabe 05/2009
• Deutsches Architektenblatt „Wertschöpfung-Wertschätzung“, Text von Michael Ziller, Seite 6, Ausgabe 05/2009
• Deutsches Architektenblatt Themenheft „Stadtrand – Baukultur und Eigenheime, „Urbanisierung der Maikäfer“ in München von Cordula Rau, Seite 22-24, Ausgabe 02/2009
• Zeitschrift „DETAIL“ „Gemeinsam Wohnen“ Wohn- und Geschäftshaus Bad-Schachener-Straße in München, Seite 986-990, ISSN 0011-9571 B2772, Ausgabe Serie 2008 Ausgabe 9, Konzept
• Abendzeitung München “Den Ruf aufbessern” Interview mit Michael Ziller und Muck Petzet, Ausgabe 31.05.2008
• Süddeutsche Zeitung “Zeitmaschine Architektur” Interview mit Michael Ziller zur Architekturwoche München A4, Seite 50, Ausgabe 31.05.2008
• Buch Architekturgespräche MÜNCHEN – Zur Verantwortung des Architekten, Michael Ziller Seite 226-229, ISBN 978-3-941145-00-9, Autor/Herausgeber: Christine Bernard, Jan Esche, eaEdition Architektur, 2008
• „Architektur Neues München“ von Nicolette Baumeister, Projekte Wohnsiedlung Diamantstrasse Seite 73 und Blockinnensanierung Lothringer Strasse Seite 119, ISBN 978-3-938780-74-9, Verlagshaus Braun, 3. Auflage 2008
• wettbewerbe Architekturjournal, Park und Ride Puntigam, Graz, Steiermark, Projekt von Michael Ziller, ISSN 1015-4477, 31. Jahrgang, Ausgabe 265/266
• Buch NEXT MÜNCHEN 40+ Architekten um die 40, Einführung und Beitrag, ISBN 978-3-00-022822-3, eaEdition Architektur, Autor/Herausgeber: Christine Bernard, Jan Esche, München 2007
• Buch Neue Landschaftsarchitektur D-Ö-CH, Innenhofsanierung Lothringer Strasse, Architekt Michael Ziller, Landschaftsarchitekt Prof. Regine Keller, Seite 100-104, ISBN 2-935455-90-9, Verlagshaus Braun, Berlin 2006
• Süddeutsche Zeitung “Zusammen-Spiel” Interview Michael Ziller zur A3, Ausgabe 28.04.2006
• Garten und Landschaft, zum Bayerischen Wohnungsbaupreis Projekt Lothringerstrasse, Ausgabe 05/2005
• Bauwelt „Bayerischer Wohnungsbaupreis“ Projekt Lothringerstrasse, Ausgabe 17/2005
• Buch Wohnmodelle Bayern, Band 4, „Qualität für die Zukunft: kompakt-urban-innovativ“, Eigenheime in verdichteter Bauweise in München-Ludwigsfeld, Architekt Michael Ziller, Seite 78-81, ISBN Oberste Baubehörde, München 2004, Callwey
• Buch Eigenheime auf kleinen Grundstücken, Forschungsarbeit von Hannes Weeber, Rotraut Weeber, Gunther Wölfle, „Der um 90 Grad gedrehte Grundriss“ Architekt Michael Ziller, Seite 98 bis 102, ISBN 3-17-017185-2, Stuttgart 2003, Kohlhammer Verlag
• Buch Bauen mit Systemen, „Quartier aus Typen“, Reihenhaussiedlung in München, Architekt Michael Ziller, Seite 158-163, ISBN 3-421-03285-8, von Christoph Gunßer, DVA 2002
• Architektur Jahrbuch Bayern 2001, 48 kostengünstige und ökologische Reihenhäuser in verdichteter Bauweise in München, Architekt Michael Ziller, Seite 102/103, ISBN 3-7667-1495-3, Callwey Verlag
• Broschüre „Modellvorhaben Kostengünstiger Wohnungsbau in Bayern, Bericht der wissenschaftlichen Begleitung, Oberste Baubehörde, 1999
• Buch „Von Dessau nach Wörlitz, Beiträge zur Revitalisierung einer Industrie- und Kulturlandschaft”, BDI, Köln, 1996
• Booklet „Farbe, Material, Architektur”, München, 1995, Akademie der Bildenden Künste
• Ausstellungskatalog „Stadt im Fluss – die Teile und das Ganze”, Haus der Architektur, Graz 1990
• Wettbewerbe Aktuell, Ausgabe 06/1995, Ausgabe 11/1997, Ausgabe 08/1999, Ausgabe 11/2000, Ausgabe 02/2002, Ausgabe 10/2001, Ausgabe 04/2003, Ausgabe 08/2003, Ausgabe 08/2006, Ausgabe 10/2009

• Moderation: Wohnungsbau Neu Denken_zwischen Existenzminimum und Luxus, Grohe Dialoge, 07.04.2016
• Vortrag BayWa Holzbautag in Bad Aibling, B&O, 18.02.2016
• Vortrag Architektenkammer Berlin, “WOHNEN FÜR ALLE: schnell_billig_schön”, 09.02.2016
• Gebäudeintegrierte Solartechnik, Ausstellungseröffnung, Vortrag „Smart ist grün, Wohnungsbau – Energieintelligent“, Nürnberg, 01.12.2015
• Vortrag Warschauer Architekturgespräche: Innovatives Wohnen, Warschau, 16.11. 2015
• Vortrag in München: Symposium zum Mehrgeschossigen Holzbau in München – Erfahrungen und Perspektiven, Juli 2015
• Vortrag in Shanghai zu Solar Building Technologies and Applications “Architecture and integrated building technology – from centralised to decentralized energy management“, September 2014
• Textilmuseum Augsburg, Vortrag Textiles Bauen, Augsburg, 19.09.2013
• Bauwelt Gespräche 2013, „Smart Material Houses“, Hamburg, 13. Juni 2013
• GDW-Städtebaukongress, Vortrag, „Wohnen und Leben in Städten – neue Strategien“, Hamburg, 25.04.2013
• 14. Brillux Architektenforum, Vortrag „Wachstum mit Weitsicht“, Hamburg 15.04.2013
• 7. Jung Architekturgespräch, Vortrag „Future Living – IBA Hamburg 2013“, Hamburg, 28.03.2013
• WS 2010/2011 Korrekturassistent, TU München, Lehrstuhl für Baukonstruktion und Baustoffkunde, Prof. Musso
• SS 2010 Korrekturassistent, TU München, Lehrstuhl für Baukonstruktion und Baustoffkunde, Prof. Musso
• WS 2009 Gastkritik TU Berlin, die Baupiloten, Susanne Hofmann
• Vortrags- und Diskussionsreihe der urbanaute, München „die Vermessung des Urbanen“ 18.05.2009 „Liebe Deine Stadt“
• WS 2009/2010 Korrekturassistent, TU München, Lehrstuhl für Baukonstruktion und Baustoffkunde, Prof. Musso
• Diskussion „Die Vermessung des Urbanen“, München, 2009
• Evangelische Akademie Tutzing „Umbau als Chance“ (Stadtumbau), Moderation des Plenums, 2009
• Beirat im Haus der Architektur: Konzept und Einführung der Reihe „Wertschöpfung-Wertschätzung“ 2009
• „Urbanes Klima“ Podiumsdiskussion München am 15.01.2009 mit Prof. Armin Nassehi, Dr. Elisabeth Merk, Dieter Koppe, Andreas Krüger, frank&friker Architekten
• A4 Architekturwoche München, Einführungsvortrag, 2008
• 2008 Schlusskritik der Semesterarbeiten an der Akademie der bildenden Künste (Innenarchitektur, Prof. Maria Auböck)
• Konzeption und Moderation der öffentlichen Podiumsdiskussion mit den Kandidaten für die Nachfolge des Stadtbaurates in München, Akademie der schönen Künste in München am 17.11.2006 (mit Prof. Winfried Nerdinger und Prof. Sophie Wolfrum)
• A3 Architekturwoche München, Moderation der Woche, 2006
• Beirat im Haus der Architektur: Konzept und Einführung der Reihe „Die Künste und die Trends“ 2005
• Fachhochschule München, Werkvortrag 2004
• Staatliches Hochbauamt Rosenheim, Werkvortrag 2004
• 2004 Zwischen- bzw. Schlusskritik der Semesterarbeiten an der Akademie der bildenden Künste (Innenarchitektur, Prof. Maria Auböck)
• 2003 Zwischen- bzw. Schlusskritik der Semesterarbeiten an der Akademie der bildenden Künste (Innenarchitektur, Prof. Maria Auböck)