Construction has been ongoing on Germany for years. But how humane, how sustainable are the structures that are being built? Often, fancy homes are erected based on canned plans that take but a single homogenous lifestyle into account – and ignore the fact that the lives of the inhabitants evolve. Or that the inhabitants change. And that they don't want to live in boxes piled on top of each other but are interested in developing a shared social life with their neighbors.

The Social Design Award, presented by SPIEGEL WISSEN and SPIEGEL ONLINE in partnership with the home improvement retailer BAUHAUS, is interested in projects and ideas that redefine living, building and quality of life. We're seeking the best proposals for new ways of living and living together -- and for an inspired new way of building. The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2019. A jury of experts will then select a shortlist from the entries, allowing the jury and the readers of SPIEGEL ONLINE to each choose a winner from this list. Both the expert jury prize and the audience award come with a purse of 2,500 euros.
The Social Design Award is to be presented in 2019 for the sixth time. The theme for last year was "Ideas for a Vibrant Neighborhood." The expert jury chose the Hamburg project "Mikropol" as the winner. Following the demolition of a civic center in the socially disadvantaged Rothenburgsort district of the city, a group of students began looking for a new meeting place of their own. They found a former public toilet on a traffic island that they are now remodeling and will soon operate as a community space.