Circular Economy - Prefabricated Buildings in Transition

 

Circular Economy based on the example of prefabricated housing estates in Thuringia

Master Thesis by Marie Schulze

Prefabricated housing from the 1950s to the 1980s seemed to be a great idea and a necessity, but after the reunification of Germany it became much more a symbol of an outdated socialist housing policy and continues to characterise the cityscape of many places.

The thesis examined the question of how the deconstruction and conversion processes of prefabricated buildings can be made more Circular Economy-friendly. The aim was to analyse all measures that have to be taken in terms of urban planning, architecture and construction, be it redesign, replanning, refurbishment, deconstruction or demolition, and analyse what achieves the highest possible value retention in which situation. The scope of the analysis was limited to the prefabricated building stock in Thuringia.

In addition, the strategy developed was applied to a neighbourhood in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, so that a conceptual proposal for dealing with a prefabricated housing area was developed.