Symbiosis within Uncertainty

The project focuses on the accelerated change our society is passing through. It is drawing a scenario for a high-rise building in Berlin which is growing or shrinking according to the city’s housing demand. The architecture itself is a flexible result of digital negotiation processes, regulations and structural constrains.

Digital exchange and an accelerated information flow allows us to transfer specific knowledge. This makes it possible for everybody to express individual opinions on every social issue – consequently, citizens want to participate in shaping their built environment.\nThis story is about how the benefits of information technology can be used to depict the complexity of a diverse occupancy in a contemporary design and negotiation process. An interface on an iPad that is connected to a computer allows any future resident to articulate individual ideas about the own apartment. The input is displayed real-time in 3D. The advantages and disadvantages of spatial qualities, such as light conditions, construction, costs, as well as the relationship to their neighbours is directly represented. It can be double–checked from different perspectives within the digital model. A database, which is provided with floor plans by well-known architects, proposes a matching example in case of geometrical similarity to the configured volume. The non-expert becomes an expert.\nWhen it comes to building, timber offers huge potentials using a high level of automation. The workflow provides a straight data flow from the 3D-Model translated into construction drawings for the milling machine, preassembled and then brought on site. Thus, the building can grow or shrink according to the people’s demand. This means, we could upgrade our buildings according to our specific needs during life. The city would more become a real representation of our time and the people in living it.\nAs an architect, I am convinced of the social importance of this profession. That’s why we should rethink our role to support the legitimacy of the architect. With the help of nowadays technologies we could open the field of large scale housing for participatory processes. 200 motivated people used this computer program for designing a suitable apartment for them. The outcome is this collaged tower, which became the readable consequence of the process.