wagnisART living environment as a participatory process

in a participatory experiment, planners and future residents brought a great deal of trust to jointly develop a unique urban building block for the munich domagk site in the former funk barracks. the focus was not only on the product quality of the planning, but also on the process of its development. the result is a complex ensemble of buildings, connected by bridges, which offers a variety of roof gardens and open spaces. a lively place that actively contributes to the quality of the neighborhood with varying degrees of openness and privacy.



participation and planning



the wagnis eg cooperative's largest residential construction project to date is located on the site of the former funk barracks, the domagk area in munich. after the barracks were used, the domagk studios formed a europe-wide networked artists' colony here. in the neighborhood of the remaining "kunsthof", a residential complex consisting of five buildings with a special focus on art and culture has been under construction since 2012.



the project combines living and working in a community with experimental forms of living and an active contribution to the emerging neighborhood. the architecture and open space design go beyond the ordinary. degrees of freedom and openness are central factors here.

five polygonal structures containing 138 residential units as well as a variety of amenity spaces and public uses are connected by bridges on the third and fourth floors. and a multifaceted unit that is lived out on roof surfaces, in inner courtyards and in the connection with the urban space: subspaces with a high quality of use and different degrees of publicity are created.



the ensemble's roof gardens and terraces are an essential part of these recreational spaces. a green horizon in munich's roofscape, formulated in 2009 as the vision of agropolis, the rediscovery of harvesting in everyday urban life, becomes a living reality here.



private and communal areas are raised above street level. the courtyards not only allow people to relax but also to play individually. individual and communal uses can easily coexist, private open spaces blend seamlessly into an overall picture. a café, an event space, studios, offices and practices are located at the interface with the public street space, creating a public space for a lively urban quarter.





daring designs, creating identities



participation was an essential part of the planning process. the planners initially took on a moderating role. content and programs were jointly developed in working groups and workshops. the focus was not only on the product quality of the planning, but also on the ongoing process of its development. in this way, identity for a unique urban quarter was created on a basis of trust between planners and residents.



the basic disposition of the multi-layered open space uses was developed in a planning group as a guiding principle: "at home on the move" or "out of the front door and already there" the positioning of the offers was developed in a "program model". the goal of specific spaces of opportunity is achieved with basic open space typologies that define a design framework. within this framework, there are multiple opportunities for interaction and development of the flexibly usable open space for the residents. the future residents were active in the furnishing with furniture and planting themselves.

throughout the entire project, freedom remains open for temporary or permanent use by all forms of art. the planning process, which also involved artists from the former colony in some cases, creates an independent identity for the site, transforming it from an interim use into an urban building block.



the project was awarded the german urban development prize 2016 even before completion.

Award Participation and PlanningGerman Landscape Architecture Award 2017

Jury verdict: wagnisART is exemplary for a participatory process in housing construction that thinks architecture and open space in one. Already in the participation process, which began on the wasteland, the commitment to community was formulated and the open space was considered as an immanent component of the overall design. The participation process, controlled by planners, followed several stages of deepening, in which initial images and wishes were formulated, open space was planned and also translated quite practically into joint actions in the concrete space with its functional and design aspects. The mutual trusting and respectful interaction between planners and users leads to new typologies of open space that leave behind our familiar images of residential open space and open up new possibilities for appropriating open space and creating identity.

It is also worth noting that the participatory process reaches into the future. In a handbook, rules for the use and care of the open space, and thus also the basics of communal living, are agreed upon. wagnisART is distinguished here as a pioneering example of the participatory planning process in housing construction, which skilfully captures all aspects of building from vision to design and can bring movement into the design of communal housing open space.