Editorial

摘要

Our thematic focus "Transformation" stands for comprehensive change: the changes that must be made to our way of life affect the use of both natural and cultural resources. As regards the design of our urban environment there are numerous existing buildings that can be intelligently adapted and converted: this can enable us not only to save space and floor area but also to generate considerable added value for the building and the city. Four projects from Tyrol, Bavaria, and Baden-Wiirttemberg presented in this issue illustrate that it is not only well-known architectural monuments that can be meaningfully adapted and converted, in fact it is possible to renovate almost any old, everyday building. However, as well as caring for our natural and cultural legacy we must continue to deal with new structures. Although some people might wish for a ban on new building: population growth and new demands in the areas of daily work and life cannot be met with conversions of existing buildings alone. In addition to which newly planned buildings offer far greater technical scope for innovations than conversions ever can. Because around half of all new buildings are residential, innovations in this sector have the greatest impact on the overall balances. Consequently, in this issue we examine the concept "2226", which was developed by the Vorarlberg office of Baumschlager Eberle initially for an office building and is now being tested in a housing block. It stands for a growing scepticism as regards the mechanical building services overkill with which certain interest groups react to climate change and shortage of resources. The "2226" concept proves that things can be done differently: it places the emphasis on solid hardware and intelligent controls instead of excessively complex machines. This path would also correspond to certain historical logic: from the original industrial tabula rasa approach we have made our way to increasingly sophisticated tools that can interact with the cultural legacy rather than constantly reinventing everything.