ACE Manifesto on the New European Bauhaus (2024)

Issued by: Architects' Council of Europe (ACE), the representative body for the architectural profession at European level
Adopted: 2024
Type: professional declaration
Category: design-architecture
Scope: regional, Europe

A white modernist building with grid windows and a flat roof, trees and lawn in front — JensKunstfreund, via Wikimedia Commons

Published in January 2024 by the Architects' Council of Europe, the representative body for the architectural profession at European level, this manifesto is the profession's own answer to the European Union's New European Bauhaus initiative. Across seven sections it argues that quality in architecture is a matter of public interest, that master planning must precede any spatial intervention, that the act of building should be treated as an evolutionary process, and that Europe's housing crisis requires ending the search for short-term economic gains and reversing the downward spiral of cheap standardisation. It closes with seven numbered conclusions addressed to architects themselves.

The New European Bauhaus was announced by the President of the European Commission in September 2020 and embedded in the Union's Renovation Wave strategy, where it was described as an interdisciplinary project creating experimental spaces where art, culture, science and technology can mingle, imagine, test and demonstrate new solutions. It has been repeatedly presented as the soul of the European Green Deal. In January 2024 the Architects' Council of Europe, which represents the architectural profession at European level, published its own manifesto in response. It is not an European Union document and should not be read as one; it is the profession speaking about a policy initiative it has helped shape. The manifesto's first and longest section makes the argument the rest rests on. Quality in architecture and construction is a matter of public interest, a position the manifesto supports by citing a 2019 European Court of Justice ruling, the Council of the European Union's 2021 conclusions and Spain's 2022 Law on the Quality of Architecture. From that it argues that achieving sustainable quality of habitat requires a vision beyond the boundaries of a building and its immediate location, relating both to the socio-economic and cultural reality of the district and city and to local construction tradition. Building should be envisaged as an evolutionary process leading to coherent and durable solutions and a harmonious balance between what is built and what remains unbuilt, and this, the manifesto says, can only be achieved if master planning is adopted as a prerequisite before committing to any spatial intervention. The middle sections argue for cross-disciplinary collaboration and a paradigm shift in public and private governance, and reach for the Baukultur concept as the model, because it treats the entire designed living environment as a coherent whole: from existing buildings to contemporary design, from small hand-crafted details to large-scale infrastructures, and from planning through construction, operation, re-use and deconstruction. Section five states the profession's own claim on its role, describing the architect as an independent expert and guardian of the common public interest, guided by professional ethics, who should be engaged as early as possible in decision-making because clients, including public authorities, typically lack the skills to weigh all the technical, social, health, aesthetic and durability criteria at stake. Section six is the most pointed. Many European countries are experiencing a housing crisis of shortage, declining quality of new construction and deteriorating existing dwellings, which the pandemic revealed to fall very unequally across populations, neighbourhoods and regions. Addressing it, the manifesto says, requires stopping the search for short-term economic gains and reversing the downward spiral of cheap standardisation, in favour of an attitude that puts the common good and quality of life first. Section seven turns to measurement and names three tools: the Davos Baukultur Quality System, with eight criteria of governance, functionality, environment, economy, diversity, context, sense of place and beauty; the Commission's New European Bauhaus Compass, a self-assessment framework; and the Commission's Level(s) scheme for reporting building environmental performance. The manifesto's call here is not for another tool but for greater synergy among the ones that exist. It is not binding. It is a position statement by a professional body about an initiative it does not control, and it obliges nobody. Its seven-point conclusion is addressed largely to architects themselves, telling them what to do rather than telling the Union what to do, which is an unusually honest shape for a document of this kind.

What it says, article by article

Origin
The New European Bauhaus was announced by the President of the European Commission in September 2020, embedded in the Renovation Wave strategy as an interdisciplinary project creating experimental spaces where art, culture, science and technology can test new solutions, and repeatedly presented as the soul of the Green Deal.
Origin
The initiative brought a challenge for the architectural profession: to alert, convince and potentially empower civil society to engage in the design of their own living spaces.
Section 1
Quality in architecture and construction is a matter of public interest, and it is vital to put the public interest, people and nature back at the centre of policies and decision-making processes affecting the living environment.
Section 1
Achieving sustainable quality of habitat requires a vision beyond the boundaries of a building and its immediate location, relating both to the socio-economic and cultural reality of the district and the city and to its construction tradition and practices.
Section 1
The act of building should be envisaged as an evolutionary process leading to coherent and durable solutions and a harmonious balance between what is built and what remains un-built, which requires master planning as a prerequisite before committing to any spatial intervention.
Section 1
A change is needed in how the built environment is commissioned, designed, built, renovated, managed and regulated, toward a people and nature-centred approach that favours quality over short-term economic gains.
Section 2
The function of architecture and the role of the architect need fundamental rethinking, re-examining received ideas, tried-and-tested past solutions and one-size-fits-all methodologies, with inter-professional cooperation overcoming fragmented and overly specialised interests.
Section 3
The Baukultur concept provides guidelines for integrative practice because it treats the entire designed living environment as a coherent whole, from existing buildings to contemporary design and from hand-crafted details to large-scale infrastructures, and from planning through construction, operation, re-use and deconstruction.
Section 3
Local public authorities hold key responsibilities for implementing urban and architectural policies and a key role in advancing initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus.
Section 4
Europe needs new generations of professionals, civil servants and decision-makers adhering to the New European Bauhaus core values, which depends on the quality of the educational system and on continued learning throughout professional life.
Section 5
Because clients including public authorities typically lack the skills to assess all the technical, social, health, aesthetic and durability criteria at stake, the participation of an architect is an imperative before, during and after a project, and architects should position themselves as key advisors as early as possible in decision-making.
Section 5
Guided by standards of professional ethics, the architect's role as independent expert and guardian of the common public interest is fundamental, alongside a coordinating and negotiating capacity that brings consensus among project stakeholders.
Section 6
Many European countries face a housing crisis of shortage, declining quality of new construction and deteriorating existing dwellings, which the pandemic showed to fall unequally across populations, neighbourhoods and regions.
Section 6
Addressing the housing crisis requires stopping the search for short-term economic gains and reversing the downward spiral of cheap standardisation, adopting an attitude that favours the common good and quality of life.
Section 7
New tools are needed to objectively assess the overall quality and sustainability of what is designed and constructed, and the manifesto names three: the Davos Baukultur Quality System with its eight criteria of governance, functionality, environment, economy, diversity, context, sense of place and beauty; the New European Bauhaus Compass; and the Commission's Level(s) scheme.
Conclusion II
Choices made at the design stage affect the entire life of a building from construction to operation, possible re-use and deconstruction, so timely and synchronised engagement of planners, architects, engineers and designers allows feasibility, sustainability and impact to be tested before large investments are committed.

More information

https://ace-cae.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ACE_NEB_Manifesto_100124.pdf

Ethics instruments