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HouseEurope! Transformation instead of demolition

With its recent exhibition ‘FIX IT!’, the European Citizens' Initiative ‘HouseEurope!’ promotes the ongoing discourse on reconstruction and advocates for the duty to reuse. The exhibition is touring Germany, showcasing best practices in conversion houses and highlighting the importance of avoiding demolition and promoting conversion to protect the climate. At the same time, signatures are being collected for the European Citizens' Initiative.

March 27, 2025

Project description

FIX IT! Umbau statt Abriss

HouseEurope! is a European Citizens' Initiative supported by numerous organizations, associations, and various institutions. Architects for Future is organizing the initiative in Germany. It campaigns for new EU laws that make the renovation and conversion of existing buildings easier, cheaper, and more socially equitable. The touring exhibition aims to raise awareness and gather a Europe-wide quorum. If the quorum — one million signatures across the EU, from at least 7 countries — is successfully reached, the EU Commission will be consulted and can approve it through the 'trilogues' with the European Parliament and Council. The Allianz Foundation is supporting the exhibition. More information.

To mark the launch of the European Citizens' Initiative HouseEurope!, Architects for Future has conceived and designed the exhibition ‘FIX IT! Umbau statt Abriss’ (German for ‘rebuilding instead of demolition’). As a pop-up exhibition, it will be touring all of Germany's federal states for a year. 16 successful examples from the conversion atlas of the Association of German Architects (BDA) show the diversity of small and large conversion projects throughout Germany and highlight the need to avoid demolition in our cities and towns. Local examples and regional variations in conversion practices will continually enrich the exhibition as it moves across the country.

From April 2025, ‘FIX IT!’ will complement the exhibition ‘DIE ABRISSFRAGE & POWER TO RENOVATION’ at  Deutsches Architektur Zentrum Berlin. In June 2025, excerpts from the exhibition will move to the Architektur Galerie Berlin as part of the exhibition ‘DIE BAUWENDE IST WEIBLICH’, which will be presented by Architects for Future as part of the Women in Architecture Festival 2025.

By January 31, 2026, the goal is to gather 1.000.000 supporters from at least seven EU countries as part of the citizens' initiative. Signatures will be collected throughout the exhibition and online.

HouseEurope! has four central demands

  • Tax relief for renovation work and reused materials
  • Fair rules for assessing the risks and potential of existing building
  • New values for the CO2 bound in existing buildings (“gray energy”)
  • Financial support

Sign now

Click here to go to the HouseEurope! signing-website and become a supporter

The exhibition building in Berlin with a glass front in a multi-story building

FIX IT! – UMBAU STATT ABRISS in Berlin © Nils Koenning

A woman stands in the exhibition and reads a poster

FIX IT! – UMBAU STATT ABRISS in Berlin © Nils Koenning

Parts of the exhibiton are used bricks on the ground forming a path

FIX IT! – UMBAU STATT ABRISS in Berlin © Nils Koenning

Posters in the exhibition

FIX IT! – UMBAU STATT ABRISS in Berlin © Nils Koenning

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