Monthly Archive: September 2016

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) invited participants to talk about the shape of our common future during their “Morgenstadt” (City of Tomorrow) workshop in Stuttgart on September 27-28, 2016.

The overall topic included how we can make the cities of tomorrow sustainable and livable – a new construction plan should emerge that everyone can develop together. Not only companies and city representatives, but also students and citizens got the chance to actively shape the city of the future with the help of discussion groups, creative workshops, on-the-spot app development, business models or building the first prototypes. A new urban concept can only work if all parties – that is, companies as well as citizens – are equally involved.

Do you want to develop your children in a family environment, without giving up the advantages of the city? Are you a single parent who appreciates good infrastructure? Or do you need help or attach importance to maximum independence and flexibility? Well, the Heidelberg Village in south-west Germany will be your next home. Inspir’action News (English) >>

On dit de ce quartier allemand qu’il est le plus propre de la planète. La construction de son Heidelberg Village est en passe de conforter cette belle réputation. Ayant le double pouvoir de produire sa propre énergie et d’assainir l’air, il sera prêt fin 2017. Inspir’action News (Français) >>

Vorresti crescere i tuoi figli in un ambiente familiare, senza rinunciare ai vantaggi di vivere in città? Sei un genitore single che apprezza una buona situazione abitativa? O Hai bisogno di aiuto e attribuisci molta importanza alla massima autonomia e flessibilità? Inspir’action News (Italiano) >>

LAST YEAR’S AWARD WINNER WOLFGANG FREY SPOKE AT THIS YEAR’S DEMOGRAFIEKONGRESS IN BERLIN, WHICH WAS OPENED BY DR. THOMAS DE MAIZIÈRE, MDB, FEDERAL MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR

Berlin, September 13, 2016 – Architect and urban planner Wolfgang Frey, who won the prize for the initiative „Germany – The Country of Longevity“ („Deutschland – Land des Langen Lebens“) for his Heidelberg Village project in 2015, spoke at this year’s Demografiekongress in Berlin on the topic: „How can architecture stimulate social consciousness?“ In our increasingly mobile world, it is hard for people to develop a sense of responsibility and connection with the place where they live. Architecture plays a significant role in fostering a sense of community.

Internacional. Asentado en un pedazo de tierra más o menos del tamaño de un campo de fútbol en un antiguo patio de carga en Heidelberg, Alemania, un nuevo complejo de 162 apartamentos llamado Heidelberg Village hace parte del Distrito Bahnstadt, que será el más grande desarrollo de casa pasiva en el mundo. Para cumplir con el nivel exigente del estándar “Passivhaus”, los edificios sólo pueden utilizar una pequeña cantidad de energía para la calefacción y la refrigeración. Incluso con los fríos inviernos alemanes, el complejo nunca utilizará más de 15 kilovatios-hora de energía para la calefacción por metro cuadrado en un año; un edificio “normal” podría utilizar 100 a 300 kWh.

La escala de desarrollo actualmente lo hizo más fácil para ahorrar energía. “La razón es la relación de volumen a la superficie”, dice Wolfgang Frey, director de Frey Architekten, el estudio de arquitectura sostenible que diseñó el complejo. Los edificios: uno de cinco pisos de altura, y el otro que van de cinco a ocho pisos están cubiertos con paneles solares que producen energía en las fachadas, no sólo en el techo.

The 162 apartments of Heidelberg Village all will use just a tiny fraction of the energy necessary to heat and cool “normal” houses.

Sitting on a piece of land roughly the size of a football field in a former freight yard in Heidelberg, Germany, a new 162-unit apartment complex called Heidelberg Village will soon be the largest passive house development in the world.

To meet the exacting “Passivhaus” standard, buildings can only use a tiny amount of energy for heating and cooling. Even with cold German winters, the complex will never use more than 15 kilowatt-hours of energy for heating per square meter in a year; a “normal” building might use 100 to 300 kWh.

The scale of the development actually made it easier to save energy. “The reason is the volume to surface ratio,” says Wolfgang Frey, head of Frey Architekten, the sustainable architecture firm that designed the complex. The buildings—one five stories high, and the other ranging from five to eight stories—are plastered with energy-producing solar panels on the facades, not just on the roof.