Munich's Akermanbogen district is located between Schwabing and the Olympic Park. Before becoming a great place to live, it was completely occupied by the barracks. Today there is housing (from townhouses to apartment buildings), a kindergarten, a school, a park - all the necessary infrastructure.
I live in Schwabing, or rather in its busiest part - Maxvorstadt. Here, as far as possible in measured Bavaria, life is in full swing. You probably all know about the Olympic Park: the place is amazing, famous both from the point of view of the beautiful landscape with a wonderful view of the mountains (yes, from a certain height in Munich you can see the silhouette of the mountains), and from the point of view of architecture. Various festivals, sports competitions are often held here, and life, again, is in full swing.
Between these two zones of activity lies Akermanbogen - a quiet area where social housing predominates and there is absolutely no feeling that you are in Munich. The last quality, from my point of view, is a plus. But in order to live here, you need to really love the silence, peace and your neighbors, not to get to know whom you simply will not have a chance. Using the example of this area, you can easily make a sociological study: everything is done here so that residents necessarily interact with each other.
As an illustrative example, we will consider one of the most interesting residential buildings in the Akermanbogen area. It is called Rigoletto and was designed by the Munich-based architecture firm A2architekten. The house received this name due to the cafe located on the ground floor, which, in combination, is also the main point of attraction for local residents. People come here not only to dine, but also to play cards, read, and work with a laptop. Large families gather here, celebrate birthdays. The popularity of the cafe is explained not only by delicious schnitzels and impressive portions, but also by the lack of any alternative entertainment in the area.
House Rigoletto is a social housing that cost 3,000 euros per square meter in 2005, when it was built. Today it is already 5,000–6,000 euros, which, given the not at all social average real estate prices in Munich, the strategically favorable location of the building and the good price-quality ratio, is very acceptable.
The house is of a corridor type with an external gallery about 100 meters long running along the eastern facade. The depth of the house is approximately 11 meters, the gallery is 3.5 m to the maximum mark (the corridor itself is 1.3 m plus the distance to the balconies). There are 53 apartments in Rigoletto, of which six are 5-room, 11 are 4-room, 18 are two- and three-room. Their area ranges from 53 m2 to 125 m2. The eastern façade faces a small "piazzetta" with a flower bed and benches, while the western façade faces a large green field, which locals call a park. And, although in my understanding the park looks different, this does not detract from the merits of this piece of land. Such unprecedented generosity on the part of the city surprised me a lot, since some social houses around the field stand dangerously close to each other to save space. However, as it turned out, according to the law, there should be 15 m2 of greenery for each inhabitant of the house.
The view of the field opens from the balconies on the western facade - they were an obligatory element of the project, but several balconies on the eastern side became a "bonus" for the owners of their apartments.
In Rigoletto, in addition to the cafe of the same name, there is an underground parking, a roof terrace and a passageway connecting the piazzetta with the field. This transition has an important social function: performances of the local circle are shown here, movies are watched, public events of a regional scale are held. Children play there in bad weather.
The house, as I mentioned earlier, is of the corridor type. In most apartments, the kitchen and bathroom open onto the outer gallery, while the living quarters are grouped in the central section.
As conceived by the architects, it was the outer covered gallery, formed by the metal frame of the facade, that was supposed to bear the social burden. And so it happened, however, the residents of the house see both positive aspects and disadvantages in it. Some consider it “problematic that everyone walking through the gallery sees what the neighbors are doing in their apartments. This violates privacy. " Others note that the gallery improves the quality of life, and thanks to it, they are happy to stay in society, even after retirement. According to residents, the gallery creates a pleasant feeling that the apartment has a separate entrance from the street, like in a townhouse. But through the fault of the same gallery, a conflict arose: children often played there, and the noise disturbed some of the neighbors. But the situation was resolved: the tenants agreed among themselves that it would be better for children to play in the "passage" or in the yard.
The socially active residents of Rigoletto report that they take great pleasure in having breakfast on the gallery-side balcony with their neighbors from time to time. Those who do not like to communicate so much spend time in the apartment and on the western balcony when they want to be alone, and in the gallery when they are drawn to people.
When the building was put into operation, climbing plants were placed on the frame facade. Today they have grown and become a very successful addition to the architectural appearance of Rigoletto.
Residents say that in their home, and in the entire area, they feel "the lively atmosphere of the village and a friendly, warm relationship to each other." Probably it couldn't be better. Probably, I'm still wrong, and the house is called Rigoletto not because of the cafe, but because the atmosphere of a tiny Italian town is created here, where everyone knows each other, and, if anything, will always help and support. With one "but": it's quiet here in German.
