Madlyn Miessgang and Lukas Bast speak with the architects and authors from projekt.studio, Barbara Weber and Laurenz Berger, about their publication Zukunft Bestand: Eco-Social Transformation of Housing Complexes, which was published in June 2024 by Ruby Press.

Eco-Social Transformation of Housing Complexes

Madlyn Miessgang and Lukas Bast speak with the architects (projektstudio zt gmbh) and authors Barbara Weber and Laurenz Berger about their publication Zukunft Bestand: Ökosoziale Transformation von Wohnanlagen, which will be released at the end of June 2024. The discussion focuses on how existing buildings can be developed ecologically and socially sustainably to prevent the release of already embedded CO₂ and to use resources efficiently during renovations.

Barbara Weber and Laurenz Berger are architects and founders of PROJEKT. They view a project as the endeavor to implement a political agenda through the physical transformation of the environment. PROJEKT follows a clear agenda: mitigate the climate crisis, strengthen climate resilience, and promote inclusion—through concrete work from territory to detail. Their approach emphasizes preserving and inclusively improving existing buildings, carefully integrating new elements, and conserving and using resources wisely.
https://projekt.studio

Barbara Weber graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and Laurenz Berger from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Their studies and professional experience also took them to Tokyo, Berlin, and Copenhagen. Back in Vienna, they are engaged in teaching, professional representation, and climate protection initiatives.

Book Description
The climate crisis, climate vulnerability, and social inequality are central challenges for any project today, particularly in dealing with existing buildings. Zukunft Bestand is a comprehensive study on the eco-social transformation of housing complexes in Linz and Vienna. Using two residential estates as examples, the book demonstrates how sustainable measures can preserve existing structures while integrating new ones to conserve resources. These measures include the preservation, upgrading, and supplementation of existing buildings, promotion of barrier-free participation, expansion and biodiversity enhancement of green spaces, use of renewable energy, and low-emission mobility design.

The examined housing complexes are representative of typical 20th-century construction types: brick construction from the 1920s to 1950s and precast reinforced concrete from the 1960s and 1970s. The described measures are transferable to many other housing complexes. Supported by comprehensive data analyses and easy-to-understand graphics, the second part of the publication addresses topics such as emissions, reuse, heating and hot water, natural ventilation and daylighting, structural design, fire protection, and green space.

Zukunft Bestand inspires and provides guidance for planners, builders, and interested laypeople who want to understand and implement the eco-social transformation of the existing building stock.

Podcast information
The podcast ZUKUNFT STADT is a project of the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Planning at TU Wien. It is produced in cooperation between future.lab and the Research Unit of Local Spatial Planning at TU Wien.

Concept and production, audio and editing: Lukas Bast, Lena Hohenkamp, Lisa-Marie Kramer, Madlyn Miessgang
Intro music: Jakob Kotal