Glossary

The re-use of pre-existing structures. In architecture, there's a growing emphasis on redesigning and repurposing existing buildings instead of always planning new constructions.

Land foundations often own plots of land which they allocate to support housing projects. The land remains the property of the foundation, while the buildings are made available to housing associations that are orientated towards the common good through the application of heritable building rights.

Care work encompasses a wide range of tasks including reproductive labour, childcare, caring for family members, assisting those in need, and housework. This work is still predominantly done by women, often without pay. When compensated, it usually involves low wages. Outsourcing care work typically results in low-income individuals providing care services for those with higher incomes, highlighting a global imbalance.

Describes owner-financed and owner-occupied housing, usually with the link between legal forms and the detached house. It also describes living in single or multi-family houses or single and multi-party houses within an apartment (condominium).

Property ownership has repeatedly been subsidised by the government. This has been done to support specific target groups, primarily to protect against poverty in old age. Typically, young, working families are encouraged to buy their own homes through repayment grants. Recently, this was done with the so-called 'Baukindergeld' (construction child benefit). Consequently, the legal form of ownership, often linked to the typology of the detached single-family house, is firmly established in the state's subsidy culture.

Ownership is initially an abstract concept, commonly equated with private ownership. However, there are many other forms of ownership: communal, municipal, customary, or indigenous ownership. In housing, diverse forms of ownership and alternatives to private ownership are possible, such as in municipal, cooperative, or collective hands.

This term refers to a form of living that encompasses both an architectural typology and a type of usage. Architecturally, the house is typically a detached single building, or less commonly, a semi-detached house. It consists either of a main residence with an additional unit or, in the case of a semi-detached house, two living units. The primary purpose is residential. However, the concept also embeds the notion of a heteronormative family structure. In contemporary terms, this living form can be described as a single-family house. Predominantly, this form of living and usage represents owner-occupied property.

Household in which one or more parents live after the children have moved out.

A plot of land and the buildings on it are defined as a unit in accordance with § 94 BGB. This association can only be severed by applying the heritable building right. The land remains the property of the party granting the heritable building right. The party acquiring the heritable building right on the other side pays a previously individually determined ground rent and thus acquires the rights to use the property. This makes it the owner of a newly constructed or existing building on the property. The stipulated regulations between the two parties are set out in a leasehold contract. Typically, the contract runs for 30 to 99 years, but the period can also be customised. If the leasehold is not continued afterwards, the leaseholders must be paid compensation for the property.

The research workshop ('Forschungswerkstatt') is a unique funding format that has supported young scientists at the Bauhaus University Weimar for one year. Its aim was to encourage open-ended and methodologically oriented research on transdisciplinary topics, outside of conventional guidelines.

Classification of architectural buildings (large housing estates, prefabricated buildings, single-family and multi-family houses, etc.)

Residential buildings inhabited by one or more parties, which can have various legal forms; ranging from a GbR (a type of German partnership), cooperative model e.G., an association, to the Mietshäuser Syndikat (tenants' syndicate). The residents actively choose to live together with others. The organisation and differentiation of privately or communally used spaces vary depending on the project. Typologically, these are multi-party houses, both existing and new constructions.

Co-operative housing projects can be described as a middle ground between private home ownership and rental housing. By joining the co-operative and acquiring shares, each member receives a lifelong right of residence as well as decision-making and design rights. Fundamental decisions are made in the community. The primary aim is to provide affordable housing that is secure in the long term.

An interview is a form of conversation involving one or more individuals, used in science to gather experiences from people who would not otherwise voluntarily contribute to the scientific discourse. The form of the interview significantly depends on who is being interviewed and how they can contribute to the research question. This could be, for instance, a narrative, semi-structured, interpretive, or expert interview.

In reference to the I.L.A. Collective, social-ecological transformation is defined as a radical change process aimed at achieving a good life for all people based on the principle of solidarity (see I.L.A. Kollektiv, 2019, S.106). In the context of housing, this transformation pertains to the restructuring of the production and organisation of living spaces, their forms of ownership, and their planning and architectural design. Aspects like living in a single-family house, the availability of housing, ownership of residential property, or the permanent availability of building land are often taken for granted. Social-ecological transformation seeks to change and disrupt these normalised views on how society organises housing and its relationship with nature and the environment. The long-term goal is to realise housing as a basic human need for all, in a way that is not subject to capitalist exploitation, does not exacerbate inequalities, or cause ecological costs. Such a transformation in housing, therefore, requires a rethink in architecture and design, urban planning, and construction. However, the aim is not to simply abolish the single-family house. There is no master plan for how social-ecological transformation of single-family housing areas could look.

Urban planning is an inter- and transdisciplinary practice with the aim of steering, shaping and critically reflecting on urban developments according to Albers/Wékel (2021: 11), urban planning ‘[...] can be defined in a very general way as the endeavour to achieve an order of spatial coexistence that meets human needs - at the level of the city or municipality’. In Germany, it is a central field of activity of local politics and administration. It has a sophisticated range of instruments at its disposal, from urban land-use planning, guiding principles and master plans to urban development funding, which provides financial incentives for spatial development and urban redevelopment.

In a housing biography, the various places a person has lived are recounted. This can be done either chronologically or based on the intensity and duration of each stay or its impact on the individual. The focus is primarily on the social and spatial structures of the form of housing, the duration of stay, and the interplay between the living space and its occupants.

Describes the ownership of one or more apartments or houses, which are either used by the owner or rented out to others.

The term 'home ownership biography' focuses on how people discuss their home ownership. It explores the current significance of owning a home, encompassing more than just the basic consideration of material issues such as wealth and income distribution, urban development, or policies on interest rates, construction, and land.

Living patterns describe housing units and their inhabitants, thereby reflecting specific living traditions. The term encompasses various configurations and circumstances of cohabitation. The choice of a particular living pattern is often directly tied to associated expectations (for example, a single-family house or an apartment in a large housing estate). Alternative terms like single-party house instead of single-family house imply a less traditional view of housing typology and an openness to alternative user groups.

The sum of the characteristics of individual living situations. The term is initially neutral and descriptive but is often used in a positive context.

The term 'housing research' encompasses several research areas that address the topic of 'housing' in a transdisciplinary scientific manner. Subjects such as housing policy, housing construction, the production and forms of housing, financing, management, or sociology of housing are investigated by architects, urbanists, and sociologists. For further information, see the self-description of Weimarer Wohnungsforschung

Housing wishes are ideas about what constitutes good housing that go beyond the satisfaction of pure housing needs. These can relate to architectural and structural, legal, supra-regional or interpersonal parameters and are based, among other things, on housing biographies.