Baukultur Report 2014/15

The Baukultur Report 2014/15 was created with the involvement of numerous specialists, experts, associations, an advisory group, and the Foundation’s own expert bodies. The Foundation’s own population survey and poll of municipalities form a basis for the report, which is coupled with recommendations for action citing current figures. It was completed in the summer of 2014.

The Federal Foundation of Baukultur is one of the few institutions in Germany that is requested and entitled to submit a report to the Federal Cabinet and the Federal Parliament through the relevant jurisdiction. Thanks to this right of submittal, the Baukultur Report 2014/15 was dealt with by the Federal Cabinet in late October 2014 and has been referred to the Bundestag and the Bundesrat (printed matter 18/3020). On 16 and 17 November 2014, it was presented to the public for the first time at the Convention for Baukultur in Potsdam and its recommendations for action were discussed in that forum by an eminent community of experts.

On 5 February 2015, in its 85th session, the Bundestag debated in detail the contents of the Baukultur Report 2014/15. This debate is archived. As part of a public expert discussion on 25 March 2015, the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety addressed the Baukultur Report 2014/15. The Chair of the Baukultur Foundation, Reiner Nagel, presented the contents, priorities, and possible political consequences of the report. Thus the Baukultur Foundation was able to bring its appraisal of planning and building in Germany, together with the resulting recommendations for action, directly into federal politics. On 11 June 2015, the Federal Parliament decided across party lines to pass a motion for a resolution to the Federal Government (printed matter 18/3020), which, inter alia, mandated the Federal Foundation via the Federal Government to deal with the implementation of the recommendations for action of the Baukultur Report and to address further thematic priorities. In addition, the Baukultur Foundation should be suitably involved by the Federal Government in the planning of federal construction projects. Moreover, for major federal projects, which often have considerable bearing on surrounding urban structures, the German Bundestag requires determination of local public opinion at an early stage. The emergence of Baukultur in the public and private sectors should be strongly and purposefully promoted through, inter alia, a supportive framework of conditions pertaining to urban land-use planning, regional planning, promotion of urban design, and national urban development policies. At the international level, such as world exhibitions and international exhibitions of architecture, the Federal Government is to increase its efforts to advocate German Baukultur and planning culture and to promote international cooperation.

The full motion for resolution can be found here (in German).

The Baukultur Report 2014/15 is now in the fourth edition. This means that 16,000 copies are in circulation, of which a large part have been distributed at events held by the Baukultur Foundation and its partners, at trade fairs, or in personal discussions. Thus the Report has not just arrived on the federal political stage but also in the municipalities, in the real estate and housing industry, and with designers and planners from different disciplines. Additionally, there is the companion volume Baukultur Barometer, the Report itself has been translated into English (printed and digital form) and French (digital only) and of course there is the magazine Neue Räume / New Spaces.

The Baukultur Report 2014/15 is available here as a download.