Community-oriented building project by women
(Baden-Württemberg)
Photography: Dagmar Zschocke, Karlsruhe
On the west urban fringe of Freiburg, the new urban district of Rieselfeld has been in development for around 10,000 residents since 1991. The city extension project was a reaction to the increasing housing requirements of the time. The urban district was designed around the concept of avoiding the shortcomings of existing large housing estates and making a contribution to filling functional gaps in house building. The principles which made up the urban district's overall concept included principles for gender-friendly planning.
Photography: U.E. Müller
As part of citizen involvement, a women's initiative developed a "catalogue for female-oriented planning" which was primarily oriented to the usage value of the housing and the housing environment. This particularly involved the accessibility of facilities, short distances between home and work, the adaptability and utilization neutrality of the housing layouts, children-friendly arrangement of public and semi-public development and open areas and also the promotion of neighbourly and community-oriented life.
In 1993, this initiative founded the organisation "Stadt & Frau e.V." (City and Woman) whose aim is to practically implement theoretical priniciples. Between 1996 and 2001, three four-storey buildings were built on a central piece of land for a women's housing project with 68 flats in total. These include both publicly funded rental flats and occupant-owned flats, and also freely financed units. 40 residential units were completed in the first and second building phases. In the third building phase, 28 flats and three commercial units were built on the basis of the winning design from a female architects' competition.
The range of housing is characterised by its great variety. The flats with between 31 and 116 m2 (with 1 to 5 rooms) each have a central combined living room and kitchen or a multi-purpose family room. They are made up of rooms which are almost the same size but can be divided or combined at will or supplemented by optional rooms and largely dispense with transport areas. 450 m2 communal areas in the entrance area and on the top floor with access to the roof terrace and the generously dimensioned access balcony way allow child-friendly and community-oriented living.
Intensive neighbourly relationships have formed thanks to the joint planning and construction process. The housing facility is now being self-run by the residents in the form of the "Genossenschaft Stadt & Frau e.G." (Society of City and Woman). The Housing Office carries the occupation rights for the funded flats and cooperates closely with the society.
The project is characterised - according to those involved - by a high level of satisfaction with the housing on the part of the residents, and by social stability, and takes on an important integrating role in the urban district.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1993 | Founding of "Stadt & Frau e.V.", development of the project idea |
| 1995 to 1996 | Female architects' competition |
| 1996 | Founding of "Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft Stadt & Frau e.G." |
| 1996 to 1998 | Completion and habitation of the 1st and 2nd construction phases |
| 1998 to 2001 | Completion and habitation of the 3rd construction phase |
Source: www.thor-klauser.de
Photography: Ramesh Amruth, Freiburg
Accredited with the 2nd prize in the competition "Wohnen mit Kindern" (Living with Children) organised by the federal state of Baden-Württemberg (2002)
Source: www.thor-klauser.de
With this "Frauenwohnprojekt" (Women's Housing Project) is can be seen that principles of gender-oriented planning can lead to a high-quality and varied range of housing and communally usable areas. The society organisation, combined with the mixed occupancy, leads to a stable, integrative neighbourhood.
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 79111 - town: Freiburg - street: Adelheid-Steinmannstraße 4.
Record inserted on 01.06.2003 by Lehrstuhl für Planungstheorie und Stadtplanung, RWTH Aachen and updated by theFederal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) within the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR).
Last update: 25.03.2009
