The winners of the two-stage design competition for the future development of Tempelhofer Feld have been announced. Studio Animal-Aided Design warmly congratulates the selected teams on their compelling contributions. We are pleased that our concept Convivial Grounds was among the 20 designs chosen for the second phase from a total of 165 submissions. Our approach aims at an ecological transformation of the field through the establishment of woodland steppes and the targeted support and connectivity of locally occurring animal species and their habitats. We based our design on the trophic relationships and habitat requirements of these species, linking them to human needs and uses – in line with the principles of Animal-Aided Design. Although our project was not selected among the winners, we regret that ecological functionality and connectivity played only a minor role in the final decision. In the context of the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, we believe these aspects must be addressed with ecological depth and not merely treated as symbolic gestures.

The documentation of the winning entries can be found here via the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development. Our own contribution from the first and second phase may only be published after the third dialogue workshop on July 12 and 13.

The SWR2 Wissen programme from June 20, 2025, explores urban biodiversity with insights from researchers and practitioners. Among them is Thomas Hauck, who explains how Animal-Aided Design integrates animals into urban planning. Listen here: to the programme

With our new qualification as DGNB Biodiversity Manager, we support you in the nature-based design and successful certification of your outdoor spaces. We provide expert and reliable guidance throughout the entire certification process for building- and neighborhood-related outdoor areas, in accordance with the DGNB System for Biodiversity-Promoting Outdoor Spaces. We are authorized to officially submit your projects to DGNB for certification and assist you with all necessary steps – from initial consultation and pre-check to pre-certification and the successful issuance of the certificate.

The City of Nürnberg has honored WBG Nürnberg – a housing development company – in its 2024 Environmental Award. This award recognizes the company’s commitment to the protection and support of wildlife. WBG Nürnberg collaborated with the Studio Animal-Aided Design for the pilot project “Quartier Langwasser Süd”.

Link to press release

Link to Project: Quartier Langwasser Süd, Nürnberg

The survey “There is a place for every animal, but not in my back yard: a survey on attitudes towards urban animals and where people want them to live” shows that people have clear preferences for the placing of different animals in an urban context. Learn more about the research findings and how this knowledge can contribute to targeted conservation measures and environmental education programs.

Follow the link to the article here

The videos explain our mission and method, design with the life cycles of target species and the world’s first construction project with AAD in Munich.

Follow the link to our YouTube channel

The Brantstraße in Munich is the world’s first project, which is based on the concept of Animal-Aided Design.

Financed by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection the project combines the needs and requirements of humans and animals in urban planning and promotes the coexistence of humans and wild animals in the city.

Animal-Aided Design: a project from Munich

The Studio Animal-Aided Design is involved in the project “Creating NEBourhoods Together” in Munich, Neuperlach. Funded by the EU the project is one of five lighthouse projects developing sustainable, inclusive and beautiful cities and regions all over Europe as part of the New European Bauhaus initiative.

Creating NEBourhoods Together

Animals live in our cities and have become their inhabitants. The article “A different kind of neighbour” by Petra Ahne (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) deals with how animals can be integrated into urban planning and gives examples of projects that have already been realized.

FAZ: A different kind of neighbour

The third issue 2022 of the journal Architect Victoria, the official magazine of the Australian Institute of Architects, deals with the topic “Design for all life / Architecture and planning”. The studio Animal-Aided Design is also represented with an article.

To read in the current issue (52-55 p.) and online at:

Architect Victoria, Edition 3 / 2022

Weisser, Wolfgang, W., & Thomas E. Hauck. 2022. “Animal-aided design.” Architect Victoria 3: 52-55.

The studio Animal-aided design was involved in a radio report for the programme “Zündfunk Generator” on Bayern2. It is about animals in urban space and the questions of how urban fauna is currently doing and how habitats in the city can be saved.

Zündfunk Generator – broadcast date:

Sunday, 23/10/2022, 22:05 (10/23/2022, 10:05 pm) on Bayern2 and now as a podcast.

Zündfunk Generator – Bayern2

Different cities, different players, one goal: urban nature. In the hectic everyday life of a big city one often doesn’t even realize the abundance of species in our cities and communities. But as numerous studies show, cities often have a much higher richness of species compared to the surrounding landscape, as they offer various habitats and ideal locational conditions in a very small space.

The studio Animal-Aided Design was involved in the video clip “Stadtnatur: Artenreicher Leben – Tierfreundliche Gebäude und Quartiere (Urban nature: increasing biodiversity in your daily life – animal-friendly buildings and neighborhoods)” by the German Federal Environment Ministry which draws attention in particular to animal species that inhabit buildings. This is because roofs and facades of buildings offer habitats which function as refuges for endangered, rare and legally protected animals and plants. To ensure that animals and plants will find these conditions in urban open spaces in the future, various players promote the creation and maintenance of suitable habitats: from nesting boxes on buildings, to vegetation areas on roofs and in the surrounding area, down to the use of animal-friendly light sources in public open spaces. In order to provide valuable habitats for animals, it is essential to integrate the needs of species into landscape architecture and urban design.

The video is available on YouTube:

Urban nature – animal-friendly buildings and neighborhoods

In the context of the exhibition Cohabitation in June 2021 in Berlin, the biologist Wolfgang W. Weisser, the architect Marc Frohn and the landscape architect Thomas E. Hauck wrote the “Manifesto for an Architecture of Cohabitation”. The manifesto was currently published in ARCH+features 108 and is part of the exhibition “Architectures of Cohabitation” at SCHAU FENSTER, Lobeckstr. 30 in Berlin.

Ausstellung Architectures of Cohabitation
ARCH+ 247 Cohabitation
Manifest für eine Architektur der Cohabitation

Studio Animal-Aided Design was commissioned to apply AAD to the open space of Biotopia – the Natural History Museum of Bavaria in Munich – as part of the new planning of the museum. We are looking forward to the cooperation with Atelier Loidl and Staab Architekten.

Biotopia

We are happy to inform you since August on our new homepage about the work of Studio Animal-Aided Design. In this section we will give you news about our practical work with the method Animal-Aided Design (AAD). Furthermore, we will point out new results and publications that arise in the context of the research on AAD.