Initiative Haus Marlene Poelzig

The Haus Marlene Poelzig Initiative is committed to promoting equality in the construction sector, as well as advancing transformation in heritage conservation and a culture of conversion. Originally founded to prevent the demolition of the home and studio of sculptor and architect Marlene Poelzig, the initiative’s work today extends far beyond the building itself.

In 2025, for example, we published a “Manifesto for Our Existing Building Stock” outlining demands and possible solutions. It calls for a paradigm shift, fundamentally viewing our existing building stock as worthy of preservation, while allowing demolition only in well-justified exceptional cases. This is not only about listed buildings and monuments, but particularly about “everyday building fabric.”

We would like to use this manifesto, together with our current work on the potentials for conversion, as a starting point for the game and bring the topic “to the kitchen table.” The workshop will focus on developing the key parameters and framework conditions for this approach.