The Fuggerei

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I'd like to start our review of traditional European architecture with affordable housing. Very often today it becomes a sterile and brutal place were poor are supposed to live while the authorities think they've done their best they can to help them. It has not always been so.

In 16th century Augsburg, Germany, a merchant called Jakob Fugger the Rich founded this social housing enclave to help the needy citezens. A noble idea - and it is still in use today! While the urban plan is organic but quite schematic the main value of this settlement except being cheap is that it actually has quite some charm. It makes a life more humane - it goes beyond function. Small number of floors and urban density mixed with picturesque roofs and gables makes it a pedestrian friendly place and even a model for social housing today. If you build it beautifully you will love it after 500 years. Not the case with modern social housing.

A map

A typical unit