Earthship Schloss Tempelhof

Earthship Schloss Tempelhof

Unique piece or prototype for rural areas?

Content
An Earthship is a promise: the house is intended to be completely self-sufficient in water and energy and is built from the material available on site. And it creates a special community, to which it offers protection and shelter. Michael Reynolds, the inventor, has now built a large number of these “Earthships” all over the world with his academy, including the first one in Germany for the Schloss Tempelhof community in autumn 2015.

In a scientific study, the IPA is investigating whether this prototype in Schloss Tempelhof can become a model for rural areas in Germany. Can the building’s self-sufficiency, its special form and concept, stimulate new paths of development in rural areas?
The study is being carried out in several steps:
Literature review
Expert interviews: guided interviews on the topics of building law, ecology, financing, and community building
Written survey of the Tempelhof community on community building, architecture, and self-construction
Expert workshop to discuss relevance for rural areas

Project staff
Prof. Brigitte Scholz, cand. arch. Lisa Küpper

Cooperation partner
Software AG Foundation

Client
grund-stiftung at Schloss Tempelhof

Project duration
08-12/2016