Funari is one of five new districts in the redevelopment of Mannheim’s Franklin quarter, an area developed from one of the United States’ former bases in Mannheim. MVRDV’s partner in the project, Traumhaus, is a prefabricated housing maker and developer with a track record of delivering affordable, high-quality housing thanks to their system of mass-produced, standardised elements. The Funari design expands on this standardised approach, creating a catalogue of dwelling typologies – a huge set of variations on Traumhaus’ original design, with a variety of materials, sizes, interior layouts, and connections to the outside with each offering a variety of options that future residents can choose from. To target a range of budgets and demographics, the catalogue mixes the original Traumhaus offering (“Traumhaus 1.0”) with variations that offer wider material choices (1.1) and different sizes (1.2), and finally a wide selection of Traumhaus 2.0 designs with more bold and individual styles, from stilt houses to colourful printed façades.

“Traumhaus has already shown how a systematic construction approach can increase affordability and accessibility in housing”, says MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “With Traumhaus Funari we want to take the next step, creating a model that retains this affordability while challenging the expectations for lifestyle, and the and variety of ways to inhabit, a suburb or village. In Funari we are creating something that is more sustainable and more social – a model that can be replicated across Germany and beyond, to the benefit of everyone. From Traumhaus to traum world.”