D - Entwerfen und Wohnen: Microwave Dinners: Domestic Space and Contemporary Forms of Work

This design studio explores the changing relationship between housing and contemporary forms of work. Historically, companies and public institutions played a significant role—directly or indirectly—in addressing the housing needs of their workforce. However, this connection has largely disappeared today due to the erosion of welfare structures, the emergence of new and often precarious labour conditions, and the abandonment of experimental, worker-oriented housing solutions, such as boarding houses and residential hotels, in favour of more conventional models, such as the single-family house or family apartment. Against this backdrop, the studio aims to critically reassess and reimagine housing for contemporary workers in Mannheim. The central objective is to design living spaces that respond to emerging labour patterns and, in doing so, reconsider what might constitute a “working class” in the early twenty-first century. At the beginning of the semester, each student will closely observe a specific contemporary worker, such as a delivery rider, a multi-local worker, a craftsperson, a digital worker who lives and works in the same space and other real-life cases, thus expanding the focus beyond conventional definitions of blue-collar labour. Based on these observations, students will define the spatial needs, aspirations, and domestic practices of contemporary workers and translate these into architectural proposals. Mannheim provides a particularly relevant context for this project. As a historically significant industrial centre and home to major chemical and manufacturing companies, as well as being increasingly shaped by a growing service economy, the city provides fertile ground for rethinking worker housing in the present day. During the excursion week, in addition to visiting the project site, the studio will examine relevant housing projects in the surrounding region situating the design work within broader architectural and socio-political debates. The studio has also established collaborations with the Mannheim Chamber of Architects, local professionals and the Zukunftslabor Wohnen at the University of Kassel. Further information will be provided during the introductory presentations at the beginning of the semester and will be made available on the institute’s website.