AFEA _ Association for Ecological Architecture _ Contact us to collaborate _ AFEA  Association for Ecological Architecture _ Contact us to collaborate _ AFEA  Association for Ecological Architecture _ Contact us to collaborate _
1. InitiativeWhere does transformation begin? Often with a local spark—a person, a place, a moment of tension or possibility. AFEA initiates and supports processes that question the status quo, create alliances, and set change in motion.



2. ConceptIdeas are fragile—but they’re also where everything begins. In this field, AFEA develops spatial strategies, narratives, and formats that translate complex realities into coherent, place-based concepts. We prototype futures, and invite others to shape them with us.



3. Construction We see building as more than the final step—it’s part of a larger choreography. AFEA supports implementation processes that are reversible, local, and circular. From material cycles to social ones, we think construction anew.



4. ResearchOur work is driven by curiosity. We ask: What can rural spaces teach us? What rituals, methods, and models are worth reimagining? AFEA’s research is open-ended, transdisciplinary, and always in dialogue with practice.



5. Consulting





How can ecological, economic, and social goals align without compromise? We offer strategic guidance and technical expertise—from life cycle assessments to funding applications—always tailored to the context, and grounded in long-term thinking.
  










                       

                                                                                

Initiative 1.1
Concerns about the climate and biodiversity are countered by the dream of the detached single-family house, which is still cherished by more than 63% of Germans. How can these positions be reconciled? Can there be a single-family house in an apartment building - a single-family house? And - to return to the starting point - can existing prefabricated buildings be converted to offer all the qualities of a single-family house? Can the Germans' most popular form of housing have an ecological future?

With the support of local politicians and stakeholders, AFEA developed an exemplary preliminary plan for a building in Stendal owned by the Wohnungsbau-Genossenschaft Altmark eV (WBGA)  that will be vacant in the future. The building is a WBS70 type of prefabricated housing. This housing series constitutes the largest share of industrially constructed prefabricated housing in Germany. The project is a proposal for a new type of building between a detached house and an apartment block - the Einfamilienhaus-Haus.
Initiative 1.2
  • Komturei Werben
  • Werben (Elbe), 2020- 
  • Self initiated concept-based 
  • public procurement

In collaboration with the town, AFEA self-initiatived a concept-based procedure to create an ecological model project for sustainable rural communities.

From vanacy to vision. Spaces with purpose, not emptiness.  A published guide for small municipalities on how to sell buildings based on concepts. One of four case studies is the Komturei Werben project. 

Initiative 1.3
Originally slated for demolition through substitute enforcement by the city—due to the private owner's inability to act and a projected demolition cost of €200,000—the building has instead become the starting point for a visionary redevelopment. AFEA proposed an alternative: a sustainable renovation made possible with €200,000 in public funding, transforming a financial burden into an opportunity for long-term community value.


Initiative 1.4More than half of all residential buildings in Switzerland are single-family homes. The single-family house is the most popular form of housing, and their number continues to rise. Yet, nearly half of these homes (46%) are occupied by only 1–2 people. In light of the climate crisis, housing shortages, and increasingly diverse lifestyles, this popular form of housing is facing growing criticism: Its consumption of materials, energy, and land is too high, and its spatial and ownership structures are too rigid.

The project Alles bleibt Anders offers a proposal to private homeowners: to transform their houses and open up unused space for new purposes.
Initiative 1.5
  • Haus für alle(s)
  • Werder (Havel), 2018 
  • Collaboration with a citizens’ movement
The small town of Werder, together with a private investor, planned to build a large thermal bath complex. Shortly before completion, the two parties separated due to a dispute. The nearly finished building remained unused for many years and became a construction ruin. A citizens’ initiative was formed, advocating for public facilities such as schools, kindergartens, a music school, and a youth center instead of a luxurious spa. For the initiative, we proposed a concept showing how the building could be repurposed to accommodate all the new uses without major structural alterations - a kindergarten with a playground in the former pool, a youth center with a skate park in the former pool bar, rehearsal rooms for the music school in the former massage rooms, and classrooms in the former saunas.
Initiative 1.6
  • La picola luna
  • Olevano Romano, 2025
  • Research initiative developed during the Casa Baldi Fellowship at
  • the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo

La Piccola Luna is an initiative by AFEA exploring alternative forms of local transport and shared infrastructure in small towns. The project imagines a hydrogen-filled balloon hovering above the town, tethered to several points across the settlement. A suspended basket allows residents to transport small goods from collective arrival points—such as a parking lot or bus stop—to their homes by simply guiding the balloon along a system of ropes.

By turning the sky above the town into a lightweight transport network, La Piccola Luna proposes a poetic and low-impact alternative to everyday logistics. Inspired by local figures like Tonino Lenda, who has been collecting and transporting waste through Olevano Romano with his horse since 2009, the project draws from existing, low-tech routines that quietly sustain everyday life. Developed during the Casa Baldi Fellowship at the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo, the project combines spatial speculation with observation of local routines and infrastructures.

Initiative 1.7
  • Lastovo Lastovo
  • Lastovo, 2019-
  • Initiative for temporary use and preservation of vacant buildings

On the Croatian island of Lastovo many buildings stand empty and deteriorate due to unclear ownership structures. Inaccurate cadastral records and unresolved inheritance situations often make it impossible to identify a responsible owner, leaving houses unused and slowly decaying.

The initiative explores ways to temporarily secure and activate such buildings. Starting from a house with clear ownership, small interventions and provisional measures allow nearby vacant structures to be stabilised and used in the meantime — for example as studios, workspaces or communal spaces.

In the long term, the project proposes a circular model in which temporary use and rental income contribute to the maintenance of neglected buildings, helping to preserve the existing fabric while enabling new forms of use on the island.

Contact

AFEA Association For Ecological Architecture

Gotzkowskystraße 33
10555 Berlin

Kirchplatz 6
39615 Werben (Elbe)

mail@afea.site
@afea.site
+49 157 50971179

Impressum
Current Team

Jurek Brüggen
Jalma Fiolka 
Hannes Herbst
Patrick Holzer
Mirko Kubein
Cintia Macuka 
Aimée Michelfelder 
Caterina Ricci 
Hannah Titz