100 minutes … to understand how a growing Switzerland wants to build, house and live in the future.

 

In the third season of our podcast, we focus on housing. Above all, though, it’s about us: a growing Switzerland. It's about the increasingly scarce space we have, our rising expectations and new ways of living, and how we can still live sustainably, vibrantly and together. It's also about the ideas that can help us to rethink our living spaces and shape our shared future. In short, it's about discovering what building, housing and living could look like tomorrow.

'This is how we want to live!' In this series of our reportage podcast, experts and pioneers will share new housing models, cooperative building and ideas for healthy cities — some of which are surprisingly contemporary, even if they are borrowed from the Middle Ages. But do we really want all of this? What can we learn from them?

From the unequal burdens of the housing crisis to immigration and hemp cookies: 100 Minutes, the podcast by brand eins and the Migros Pioneer Fund.
And for those who prefer reading to listening: you’ll find more insights on the topic, and beyond, in our newsletter and on LinkedIn.
 

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Podcast «100 Minuten» - This is how we want to live!

Season 3 - Episode 5

‘Many say that densification is grey. For me, it is green and colourful – because it creates diversity.‘

The battle for space has long since begun. We need a better land use plan. How can we reclaim road space and give it back to people instead of cars? How can areas be ecologically enhanced? Who is responsible for public space? And why are construction sites actually ideal testing grounds? In the fifth episode of the podcast ‘100 Minutes – This is how we want to live!’, transport expert Thomas Hug-Di Lena explains why fewer roads also generate less traffic. Sophie Rudolf and André Stapfer also call for 30 per cent of Switzerland's land area to be reserved for ecological infrastructure.

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Season 3 - Episode 4

‘You’d rather adapt the built environment than change your own behavior.‘

How do you preserve the character of a city? How much change can it tolerate, and who actually regulates it? In the fourth episode, we talk about growth as an opportunity, the regeneration of non-places, and why architecture alone does nothing for the community. Sometimes, says our guest, it's even worth taking a look at the Middle Ages. And we ask: why are Swiss people socially insecure but individually quite satisfied, and why do people prefer to change buildings rather than their own behaviour? Our guests are Ariane Widmer, architect and spatial planner, and Britta Friedrich from the Migros Pioneer Fund. 

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Season 3 - Episode 3

‘All ideas that require changing society first remain theoretical.’

Should our cities look like Manhattan? Would that be the big solution to the housing crisis? Or is there perhaps already enough space available, but it is being used incorrectly? How should buildings be designed today so that they can be flexibly adapted to people's living situations in the future? By the end of the episode, you'll want to hijack a traffic island and turn it into a flower bed. Our guests are Joris Van Wezemael, economic geographer and architectural sociologist, and Aurelia Winter, architect and project manager at Grünes Gallustal and Formel Siedlungsnatur. 

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Season 3 - Episode 2

‘If you live in concrete, you become criminal and sick. Nonsense.‘

We explore densification and displacement, and the question of how housing development can be designed in a way that is more socially and environmentally sustainable, both for cities and for the people. Is gentrification really always a bad thing? We also reflect on why concrete doesn’t make people criminal, why we can’t all live piled on top of each other, and why a new residential area takes a good 20 years to develop a soul. Guests include Thomas Haemmerli, author and filmmaker, Helene Obrist, editor at Tages-Anzeiger, and Barbara Buser, architect and founder of Denkstatt and Zirkular (German only). 

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Season 3 - Episode 1

‘I trust community more than money.‘

In Munich, Germany’s most expensive city, only four out of every 1,000 apartments are vacant. In Zurich, it’s not even a full one, just 0.7. The population is growing, while available housing is shrinking. In the first episode, we bring together bold visions and hard facts to ask what solutions cities can develop to tackle the housing crisis. It’s about unequal burdens, the right approach to immigration and harmless cannabis cookies. Guests include Raffael Wüthrich of Monda Futura, Johanna Probst from the Federal Statistical Office, and Philippe Koch, Delegate for Housing for the City of Zurich (German only). 

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You want more?

 Click here for season 2 of the podcast and the question of how we can make climate protection feasible for everyone.

 

Listen now - Season 2!