Michael Ziller

In my view, the entire building is one large home, with the individual apartments in this building serving as private retreats. This fundamental idea leads to a housing concept that relocates certain functions from the purely private living space and makes them accessible to the community – for example, a library, a guest apartment or a laundry room. Merging these amenities in communal areas within short walking distances creates additional living comfort and quality of life. This quality can be further enhanced by opening up the ground floor and rooftop areas for residents with an appealing design. In densely populated urban areas, the ground floor is only partially suited for residential use – it’s part of the urban space and should be treated as such. Ultimately, the quality of urban living is a matter of organisation, and architecture plays a crucial role because it is shaping the framework for forward-thinking solutions.

MZ

First and foremost, we need versatile and varied living concepts. A rigid standard layout for a family with two children no longer suits the majority of residents. Additionally, the amount of space we need changes throughout different stages of life – sometimes we need more, sometimes less space. Our goal is to develop architectural concepts that respond to these dynamics and provide people with options to adapt their living situations to their respective circumstances. If residential units are carefully planned, it becomes possible to reduce the overall living space per person while simultaneously enhancing their quality. This approach is further supported by reallocating functions that are not needed daily to shared areas within the building.

MZ

In recent years, housing construction has become a central political issue. I see this as an opportunity for an in-depth examination of housing programmes, floor plan typologies, mobility, open spaces and the urban context. Ultimately, we must finally overcome the strict functional separation of post-war modernism, which divided living, working, and leisure into separate areas. Existing housing estates and purely residential neighbourhoods also need greater integration of shops, essential services, co-working spaces and childcare facilities to ensure short distances for people of all ages. In this sense, refurbishing the existing building stock presents an opportunity to correct past mistakes and create vibrant, green residential areas.

MZ

As part of the "Case Study Houses" at the International Building Exhibition Hamburg (IBA Hamburg), we have implemented a model project that stands out due to its future-oriented energy concept, featuring local energy harvesting and storage, and its sustainable materials. In my opinion, the careful use of available resources plays a central role in the future of housing construction. It was important to me to assess ecological aspects according to economic criteria and to critically review all measures. Our goal was to build two energy-autonomous houses. However, this can only be achieved if we do not view the house as a separate entity, but as a module in a district-wide energy network. In such a network, energy surpluses and demand can be exchanged, stored or consumed depending on need, both in summer and winter. The local community with various uses is crucial for energy supply issues. Additionally, cars and bicycles can be used for energy storage. As for the materials of the projects, we restricted ourselves to local resources – wood or brick. Using materials from the region can also support local craft businesses.

MZ

Changes are always initially associated with uncertainties. This calls for bold clients and architects. The real estate market must respond to societal changes – and we need architectural concepts that propose future-proof solutions. Good architecture can achieve this by focusing on compact and dense buildings with diverse forms of housing. Through a targeted mix of living, working, recreation and modern mobility, the urban space gains crucial qualities. For me, architecture and urban development in this context are not defined by individual projects. Rather, I understand them as an ongoing process.