Dialogue on Circular Construction

march 2026

Last week we launched the second round of our “Circular Construction Dialogue”, and once again we were delighted by the huge interest shown, the large number of participants and the impressive contributions from the speakers – we’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for joining us and getting involved!

As with our launch event in December, the session began with a brief introduction by the two hosts, Borbala Kneip and Raphael Dietz, followed by a speech by Peter Reinhardt, the managing director of IFbau. Our guest speakers on this occasion were Elif Kälberer, who works at Adapter e.V. and the University of Stuttgart, and Manuel Michalski from Drescher Michalski Architekten.

Elif Kälberer provided insights into a student project focusing on the reuse and repurposing of components from Stuttgart railway station. She also presented the work and vision of Adapter. This voluntary association identifies vacant buildings and works with the owners to revitalise them, for example through temporary residential use and circular modular construction.

Manuel Michalski’s talk also focused on building within and with existing structures in the spirit of circular construction. His presentation of the award-winning ‘Nordgrün’ project demonstrated how the potential and success of circular construction are linked to the client’s willingness to engage, their enthusiasm for experimentation, and their courage.

We are delighted that so many interested participants joined us for the discussion this time and hope for a lively turnout at the upcoming events as well. The next event will take place on 1 July 2027; further details – including information about the speakers – will follow in the coming weeks. And for those who would like to make a note of the dates now: our further dialogues on circular construction this year will take place on 16 September and 2 December.