Weimar Merketal – To build or not to build
Project information
submitted by
Gabriele Gagliardi
Co-Authors
Magdalen Ahlborn
Anouk Bade
Henna Katrin Barthold
Felicia Pia Blum
Thorvardur Brynjolfsson
Nina Cicmancová
Viktória Cigerová
Paulina Dröge
David Manuel Martin Feldbusch
Jan Bruno Groening
Felina Hecht
Paula Clara Hengst
Charlotte Hoefs
Hannah Hohberger
Shreeya Joshi
Sandy Lehnigk
Carla Lene Lilienthal
Anne Sophie Lina Matrisch
Ida Mechelmann
Antonia Rebekka Nitsch
Marietta Nolte
Helen Ochs
Clara Ormsby
Emmelie Quarg
Leoni Radecke
Antonia Elisabeth Renneke
Sofia Marie Ricken
Charlotte Richter
Julie Rößler
Anastassia Rudkowski
Julian Noa Linus Sartory
Jessica Schau
Hanna Martha Schäuble
Nele Semmler
Celine Sieber
Paula Clara Hengst
Sophie Stimpel
Camilla Maria Stöckert
Greta Florentine Lilian Treutwein
Ida Trüten
Ferdinand Philipp Weiser
Jasmin Magdalena Wisse
Mentors
Prof. Steffen de Rudder
Gerda Seidelmann
Gabriele Gagliardi
Faculty:
Architecture and Urbanism
Degree programme:
Architecture (Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)),
Urban Planning (Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.))
Type of project presentation
Exhibition
Semester
Summer semester 2026
- Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8 - Hauptgebäude / Main Building
(Raum 204)
Available during summaery's regular opening hours
Links
https://www.uni-weimar.de/de/arc…
Contributors:
Stadtverwaltung Weimar
LEG Thuringen
Project description
As in many other cities, there is also a shortage of housing in Weimar. For this reason, a new residential area is planned on farmland in the Merketal area, south of the city. However, converting agricultural land into settlement space is often considered a major mistake in sustainable urban planning.
Every day, Germany loses around 50 hectares of natural or agricultural land. Housing construction versus land consumption—here, two equally important goals come into conflict.
In addition, conventionally farmed agricultural land is generally not a place of high biodiversity; in fact, cities now often provide more biodiversity than such farmland.
Another contradiction lies in the widespread desire for a detached private home, despite the poor performance of this housing type in terms of energy efficiency, sustainability, and land use.
So what should be done?
Students of architecture and urban planning have developed thirteen different proposals for resolving these conflicting objectives: not building at all, building elsewhere, building less, or building in a radically sustainable way.
Email: gabriele.gagliardi[at]uni-weimar.de