What kind of housing do we want?

Forms of living and of family, yesterday and tomorrow

Eröffnung des selbstverwalteten Wohnheims Collegium Academicum in Heidelberg, 2023 – Eröffnung des selbstverwalteten Wohnheims Collegium Academicum in Heidelberg, 2023

The ways in which we live together are evolving, and our homes are transforming along with us.

The Federal Bauakademie Foundation and the Humboldt Forum are joining forces to take a look at housing in the past and the future: what did family life look like in the past, and how did it shape the way we live? From collective work in the farmyard and around the house, through the separation of work and private life during industrialisation, to the home office of today – housing is always an expression of social change.

Patchwork and chosen families, communal living, shared accommodation for the elderly, or the nuclear family with 1.35 children: family structures are diverse, change over the course of a lifetime – and constantly place new demands on living space.

Architect and urban researcher Saskia Ebert explores innovative housing projects that offer affordable and sustainable solutions to these challenges. From a sociological perspective, Christine Hannemann shows how notions of family and the structure of the housing market have changed over time and how this affects the way we live together. How is housing distributed, and who has access to it? What role do rising rents, housing shortages or new housing models play? And how do families live without their own home?

In a panel discussion, they will explore these topics and demonstrate how closely notions of family and forms of housing are intertwined.

An evening exploring what shapes our shared lives – and how we want to live in the future.

Moderator: Leslie Quitzow (Federal Bauakademie Foundation)

Participants

Dr. Saskia Ebert

The managing director of the firm ‘subsolar* architektur und stadtforschung’ highlights the ideas that courageous people across Germany have put into practice to enable affordable, sustainable and community-based living.

Prof. Dr. Christine Hannemann

The Head of the Department of Architecture and Housing Sociology at the University of Stuttgart explores how conceptions of the family and its living arrangements vary across time and cultures, and how this affects our current living conditions.

Dr. Leslie Quitzow (host)

Dr Leslie Quitzow is a transformation manager for urban development and the property sector at the Federal Bauakademie Foundation.

 

A joint event organised by neighbouring institutions, the Humboldt Forum and the Federal Bauakademie Foundation.

Further information is available on the Bauakademie website

- Price: free admission

- Language: German

- Place: Mechanical Arena in the Foyer

- belongs to: Family Matters

Next date:

• Date Wednesday, 08/July/2026 17:00
• Venue Humboldt Forum: Mechanische Arena im Foyer, EG
• Address Schloßplatz, 10178 Berlin-Mitte