Ethical standards and social inclusion are an important element of sustainable construction. Enhancing social sustainability requires projects to adhere to the highest ethical standards and promote social inclusion at all stages of construction, from planning and building to use and servicing; to ensure an enduring positive impact on communities. This concept forms the very basis of this year’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale in the German Pavilion, examining aspects that support the successful integration of immigrants into Germany.

The exhibition’s design concept was developed by Something Fantastic. “Making Heimat. Germany, Arrival Country” at the Venice Biennale explores the question of what architectural and urban conditions need to be met in arrival cities for immigrants to be able to integrate successfully into Germany. The German concept of “heimat” doesn’t translate easily into other languages: “home” or “home country” fail to capture the full range of meaning of the German term.

The Berlin architecture office Something Fantastic (Elena Schütz, Julian Schubert, and Leonard Streich) is responsible for the overall design concept of the German Pavilion – and features the physical adaptation of the heritage listed pavilion to illustrate social sustainability in action. Four large openings in the walls of the German Pavilion have transformed it into an open house, reflecting the country’s permeability. Over 48 tons of brick were removed from the landmark-protected walls – carefully coordinated with Emanuela Carpani, the head of the Venetian office of monument preservation. In 2015, Germany’s borders were kept open to receive over a million refugees. Although currently the EU borders are largely closed for refugees, the gesture of opening the house is a call to rethink Germany as a welcoming nation for immigrants.

The transformation of the pavilion into a lively public space was developed in collaboration between Something Fantastic and the curators Peter Cachola Schmal, Oliver Elser, and Anna Scheuermann. Opening up the pavilion was not only a political, urban planning, and architectural statement, but also a welcoming gesture for exhibition visitors. The exhibition uses examples from Germany’s Arrival Cities to pose for discussion a series of theses, based on asking many architects about their planned interventions to respond to contemporary issues. Although these districts are typically characterized as problem areas, they offer residents and new arrivals the most important prerequisites of an Arrival City: affordable housing, access to work, small-scale commercial spaces, good access to public transit, networks of immigrants from the same culture, as well as a tolerant attitude that extends to the acceptance of informal practices.

The work of Something Fantastic “Making Heimat. Germany, Arrival country” is on display in the Venice Giardini until November 27, 2016, as part of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. Young architectural practice Something Fantastic has also been involved in the production of the academic publications following each of the LafargeHolcim Forums. The next book in the series from Detroit is due at the end of 2016.

Promoting sustainable construction – LafargeHolcim Awards

The LafargeHolcim Foundation promotes the advancement of sustainable construction, including ethical standards and social inclusion, from design to implementation. The LafargeHolcim Awards seeks projects that go beyond balancing environmental performance, social responsibility, and economic growth. Through the competition, the Foundation seeks to extend notions of sustainable construction and design throughout all stages of a project’s lifecycle. The 5th International LafargeHolcim Awards for sustainable construction projects – the most significant global competition for sustainable design with prize money of USD 2 million – is open for entries until March 21, 2017 at: www.lafargeholcim-awards.org