Residential buildings, residents and their access to and participation in use and care, in preservation and design are systematically examined from the perspective of heritage theory and practice, as well as from the perspective of housing research on participation and identification. 

The research project is dedicated to the complex relationship between buildings - owners/occupants - monument preservation and the public, with questions that deal in particular with the value attributions of the occupants, with concepts of monument preservation and with participation processes. The interdisciplinary approach promises relevant insights and a fundamental understanding of the diverse processes of structural change, identification structures, monument justifications and public discourses. Insights will be gained through the empirical study of 16 listed housing estates in Germany that have implemented important housing concepts in terms of architectural and urban development history as well as socio-political significance at the turn of the century from the 19th to the 20th century until the early 1980s.

Based on this, new methodological approaches and monument preservation instruments can be developed with regard to living in monuments. This seems all the more important as, against the backdrop of climate change, the preservation and continued use of younger building stocks are increasingly being recognised as indispensable, even independently of their status as cultural heritage. The research on listed residential ensembles and settlements of the 20th century could thus prove to be groundbreaking for many other building structures worth preserving. In this way, the project excellently addresses a research desideratum that urgently needs to be addressed.

The project, lead by Associate Professor Heike Oevermann and Professor Barbara Schönig, with the involvement of Professor Jasper Cepl and Professor Frank Eckardt, was approved for a period of 3 years.