Icon: enlarge
A couple in front of their own home in 1962: supposed normality
Photo: imago images
SPIEGEL:
Ms. Staub, you have lived in the United States for a long time. How do you live there?
Staub:
In a detached house from the 1940s.
The single-family house is simply the common form of living here, but the plots in our district are comparatively small.
SPIEGEL:
Can you understand that many people in Germany want to live like this, in their own home with a garden?
Dust:
When you have children, it's nice to have a piece of green available.
But that doesn't necessarily have to be our own garden, in Berlin we lived in an apartment building that had a green inner courtyard.
That was wonderful.
To person
Icon: enlarge
Professor Dust
Photo: Pennsylvania State University
Alexandra Staub
has been teaching architecture at the traditional Penn State University in Pennsylvania since 2001.
Among other things, she published books on single-family houses ("Conflicted Identities: Housing and the Politics of Cultural Representation") and on the relationship between architecture and gender issues ("The Routledge Companion to Modernity, Space and Gender").
SPIEGEL:
In Germany, there is currently a dispute about whether it is still contemporary and ecologically justifiable to build single-family houses.
How do you see it
Dust:
It is certainly not sustainable if more meadows or arable land are turned into construction sites.
But I think we first have to be aware of what people associate with this design and who might also stir up the desire to own their own house.
The construction industry generates good returns with its own homes, it has an interest in awakening longings.
This is more pronounced in the USA, but I see a similar tendency in Germany.
Only: in Germany, the erosion of land poses a completely different problem. The country is not that big.
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an e-paper in the app and on the web
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
can be canceled online at any time
One month for € 0.00
Try it now for € 0.00Arrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app and e-paper
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Only € 19.99 per month
can be canceled at any time
Buy Now Right Arrow
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of 19.99 €
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.