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Curved stairway. Bogenhausen House by David Chipperfield Architects. © Simon Menges.

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Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Dipuzhen David Chipperfield Architects 2018 Simon Menges

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In our latest Blueprint City article, courtesy of Future West (Australian Urbanism), architect, curator and author Kristien Ring joins former Victorian and WA government architect Geoffrey London to discuss the rise of Berlin’s citizen-driven apartment developments – a model known as ‘Baugruppen’.

Different to co-housing and other similar schemes, Baugruppen is an ownership-based model co-initiated by an architect in collaboration with the development’s future residents. While the owners buy the site together and share some facilities, Baugruppen residents consider what elements are shared at the outset of the project, often leading to more private spaces than other models. However owners are becoming increasingly accustomed to sharing amenities, with a shift towards incorporating shared spaces becoming more common.

“The more pragmatic view is that the people have their own apartments, and that’s the centre of their life, but they also share things that make their life in the city better, such as common spaces where children can play in the afternoon,” says Kristien.

Compared to traditional residential developments, Kristien says the Baugruppen model places a much greater emphasis on green space and build quality, which “can exceed that of anything else on the market”. The developments often activate street frontages with local mixed use businesses and homes can cost 20% less than in the standard housing market. Viewing Perth as a city with great potential for Baugruppen-style developments, Kristien believes citizen-driven developments are a way to diminish shortcomings in the current market.

“Baugruppen brings in people with a lot of ideas about how they want the urban environment to be, and working together with architects helps get excellent design solutions. People make entirely different decisions when they are going to live there themselves.”

Head to the Assemble Papers website to read the full conversation between Kristien Ring and Geoffrey London. This is the fourth article we’re sharing from Future West (Australian Urbanism) – a new print publication looking at the future of urbanism through the lens of Perth and Western Australia.

Photos by Simon Menges.