werk, bauen + wohnen 4-2025
Small Scale – Big Questions
More than half the existing buildings in Switzerland are single-family houses. But only 27 per cent of the population, many older than 65, live in such houses. The consumption of land is catastrophic. There is an urgent need to increase density, but this process seems to be faltering. These problems are well known and are undisputed in expert circles. The single family house is regarded as the poor relation of sustainable spatial and housing planning. In the discussion from page 13 onwards Angelus Eisinger, director of RZU, the umbrella organization for planning in the region Zurich and surrounding area, nevertheless says we can no longer ignore this typology. For, despite all the objections by experts, for many people
a home of their own with a garden still represents an ideal. And where there is a demand, supply soon follows. Leaving the response to this demand up to profithungry developers is negligent and strategically wrong.
That things can be done better is shown for instance by the numerous architecture prizes awarded by different bodies with great media impact. Among the prizewinning buildings there are always many single-family houses, often in the category “next generation”, as for young architects this kind of commission can lead the way to professional independence. But instead of designing luxurious vanities, they often use the opportunity to address the big questions on a small scale. As our selection from page 18 onward shows, in single-family houses new models for how we live together are being developed, climate-friendly construction methods are being evaluated and in some cases regulations and standards are critically examined. The private home is also a laboratory.
This issue aims to offer a stage for innova tive projects of this kind. For the first time since 1980 a single-family house is featured on the magazine’s title page. It is time to take a fresh look at this typology, to clearly describe its characteristics and problems, but also to recognize its potential for providing forwardlooking solutions. — Christoph Ramisch