Experiments in housing are rare. All too often, the parties involved resort to concepts for profitable “residences” drawn up by investors, instead of rethinking people’s real living needs and trying to meet them. Now the American idea of “theme housing” with its concept of living in a Disney-like theme park has reached Europe. Whether short-lived marketing strategies of this kind make sense is doubtful. Modern dwellings have to retain their habitable qualities for 20 years or more, as well as their market value. In view of the increasing scarcity of building land, sustainable concepts and a further increase in density are necessary. But qualitative sustainable concepts imply more than just low energy consumption and manufacturing processes that husband resources. Gerd Kähler’s criticism of excessive standardization certainly applies to a large segment of the modern housing market. Fortunately, though, there are also dedicated developers, architects, planners, clients and contractors who, over the past few years, have built high-quality housing schemes that meet the main criteria for modern living. (Frank Kaltenbach)