MVRDV and Traumhaus, a producer of low-cost, high-quality homes based on standardized elements, have teamed up to develop a 27,000 square meter project redeveloping former US Army barracks in Mannheim, Germany.

Courtesy of MVRDV

MVRDV and Traumhaus, a producer of low-cost, high-quality homes based on standardized elements, have teamed up to develop a 27,000 square meter project redeveloping former US Army barracks in Mannheim, Germany.

Courtesy of MVRDV

The Funari project, named after the one of five districts in the Benjamin Franklin barracks, joins housing, gardens and public spaces, in a collection of varied typologies meant to attract different types of households and demographics. The hope is that such heterogeneity will upend traditional perceptions of village life as territorial and segregated.
Courtesy of MVRDV

MVRDV calls the concept ?the fully pedestrianized ?village,?? a place where paths meander through communal spaces such as sports parks and themed eco-environments like fruit alleys and buttery gardens. Each home also has private garden spaces that can be cultivated to one?s preferences, be it for recreation or food production. However, far from advocating a transit-free lifestyle, the entire complex has a subterranean parking facility and is adjacent to tram services; access for emergency vehicles has also been accounted for.

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