Working mix living : an efficient design for a sustainable urban environment

PREFACE

First time I got in contact with Frankfurt was in 2015 when I did an internship for two months at ln_Design, an architecture office.

So when I started to work on my thesis I knew Frankfurt only as the big and modern business and trade city, famous for its skyline with a lot of glassy skyscrapers. Dealing more and more with its structure, reading about its historical and population development over the years and while that experiencing practically the direction of its streets, getting a feeling for the stream and purposes of the residents, the infrastructure and the needs of alteration, I experienced its soul and potential.

Fast I understood that the current architectural tendencies don’t fit to the social and ecological requirements. To be prepared for the future, to adapt the needs of the population for affordable residential space and to implement the idea of sustainability, there has to be a change. So I started to transfer the old idea of mixed use, that means combining residential space with working space in one building, on this modern city. Until the industrial revolution at the beginning of the 19th century it was usual that the craftsmen’s workshops were in the same house where they also lived with their families. That means short distances between home and work, less traffic, less waste of resources and time. With the alterations caused by the industrial revolution residential and working space was separated. This ancient way of mixed use had to be adapted to life in the 21st century and transferred to a more modern understanding of combining private and working life.

But Frankfurt was not only the city that made me understood the required connection between architecture, ecology and the population, but also the place where I experienced professional work at an architecture office for the first time. As mentioned above I already did an internship at ln_Design Architektur in 2015. The directors of the office are Tim Driedger, architect, and Christine Weinmann, interior designer, that founded the office in 2000. Both have also a degree in engineering.

This way I had the chance to study intensively not only the theoretical background of my thesis, but also complete it with my personal impression and experience of this great, modern European city and also being in close dialogue with professional architects, that apart from my thesis gave me the opportunity also to get to know the other projects they were working on at that time. I visited sites, experienced the process of developing a project, integrating the sites conditions with the clients wishes and ideas and the need of steady adjusting the plans to practical challenges. I also understood the necessity of close cooperation with other professions like construction advisers or engineers and got an idea of all the formal applications that have to be filed before starting a project.

So aside from experiencing Frankfurt, its rhythm and way of life and its potential, it was as well exciting for me to have the opportunity to work together with professional architects, getting to know how an architectual office works, profiting from the longstanding work and experience of my colleagues and bosses, getting a first experience in professional architectural work in an office and enlarging my skills and knowledge in architecural understanding and design.