Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Rotterdam-based MVRDV has created Fuggerei NEXT500 Pavilion, a wooden pavilion created for the 500th anniversary of Fuggerei, the world’s oldest social housing complex, under the auspices of Fürstlich und Gräflich Fuggerschen Stiftungen.

The 150-square-meter pavilion is designed as a long, narrow, gabled building. To create an undulating and floating geometry, MVRDV is inspired by the long terraced houses of the Fuggerei itself. 

Rather than a single square block, one end of the pavilion is slightly curved and raised up to suggest its role in looking out to the future Fuggereien, both in Augsburg and around the world. 

This lifted part creates an 8.5-meter cantilever that houses a tribune for lectures, debates, workshops, and other cultural events. 

The pavilion is made entirely from cross-laminated timber (CLT), pushing the boundaries of modern CLT technology with its 8-meter cantilever and double-curved elements. 

“Sustainability played a critical role in the selection of this structural approach; wood stores carbon instead of releasing it into the atmosphere, while CLT allowed the pavilion to use a modular system that makes the pavilion easily demountable, ensuring it can have a second life within a social or sustainable context,” says MVRDV.

The wood was sourced from the Fuggerei’s own forests, while a local carpenter created the wooden interiors.

Inside the pavilion, visitors can experience an exhibition on the “Fuggerei of the Future”. 

For the exhibition, MVRDV and the Fugger Foundation studied the existing complex in Augsburg and, in line with the Fuggerei’s newly written “Fuggerei Code”, distilled the complex’s formula for successful social housing. 

The result is 8 simple “building blocks” that provide the basis for a system for new Fuggerei that can be adapted to different contexts worldwide.

These building blocks are also referenced in the pavilion’s internal layout, with eight different spaces for the exhibition and events inspired by the eight building blocks.

MVRDV also developed three proposals for Fuggerei both inside and outside Europe.

The first is proposed for the original hometown of Augsburg and is distinguished from the original Fuggerei by its educational focus, aiming to provide self-determination and reduce the city’s wealth gap through education. 

The second Fuggerei of the future is intended for a community in rural Lithuania, focussing on elderly poverty and a crisis in social care due to an aging population with a complex set in a beautiful natural environment. 

The third Fuggerei focuses on Rothumba, a remote fishing village in Sierra Leone, with the strategy of empowering residents and creating a safe environment for women and children.

Based on the Fuggerei Code and building blocks developed in the study, the appearances of these future Fuggereien depend on their purpose and location, but the principles are the same as the 500-year-old original.

“Our team at MVRDV researched what kind of Fuggerei different places would need, with a focus on education, the elderly, gender equality, and the empowerment and economic independence of the inhabitants. I am delighted at the massive interest in the celebration of 500 years of Fuggerei, which shows that this is a global issue that needs urgent attention,” Jacob van Rijs adds.

On May 7, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, visited the exhibition housed within the pavilion where MVRDV presents a new Fuggerei code and three proposals for new Fuggerei complexes around the world.

“500 years of the Fuggerei represents the success that the people of Augsburg have achieved together over the centuries,” says Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. 

“Behind this is an admirable sense of citizenship, combined with entrepreneurial foresight. It has proven to be effective to always put the well-being of society above one’s own and thus to meet with common strength the historical challenges but also the hardships of everyday life. Europe offers its sincere congratulations on this achievement!” Von der Leyen concludes.

Project: Fuggerei NEXT500 Pavilion
Architects: MVRDV
Founding Partner in Charge: Jacob van Rijs
Director: Sven Thorissen
Designer Team: Christine Sohar, Marta Iglesias Rando, Alexander Forsch, Alessio Palmieri, and John Hermansson
Strategy and Development: Jan Knikker
Visualisations: Antonio Luca Coco and Francesco Vitale
Client: Fürstlich und Gräflich Fuggerschen Stiftungen
Photographers:  Eckhart Matthäus