Loft

A loft, in German as shorthand for loft, is a umfunktionierter to the apartment warehouse or industrial space. The word comes from English and means simply attic or storage. In the U.S., Loft was transferred to warehouses and industrial buildings.

History

From the 1940s such vacant warehouses have been converted to residential use in New York City and London, where the fabric of the hall was hardly changed. An apartment often included so that the entire surface of a floor, in the simple furniture were placed inside. Thus, open apartments with huge surface areas and high ceilings were. Andy Warhol is today mistakenly counted among the pioneers of Loftnutzer since he set up his factory until the 1960s in a New York loft. Lofts were quickly able to the coveted apartments for freelancers and artists, so integrated living and working space and so often stay low.

Today's use of Lofts

Today, loft apartments are no longer improvised dwellings, but through a huge renovation and modernization of old industrial buildings and are thus often very expensive apartments in the property market. Partly also open-plan new apartments are offered as a loft; with traditional lofts have these brokers offers but nothing to do.

Loft Development in Germany

The German Loftbewegung started in the 1980s in the Frankfurt and the Ruhr Area. In the late 1990s, Leipzig succeeded as German capital of Berlin lofts through before. Here are especially rich extent in old industrial buildings from the period and the Bauhaus era available. They are increasingly used by the lively art scene of Leipzig.

Loft Development in Switzerland

In Switzerland, the conversion of industrial buildings into lofts mid-1980s and only occasionally was discovered. A real boom began in the mid- 1990s in Zurich and Winterthur. Today after Lofts demand leads advance in urban areas at a price evolution, makes almost exclusively high-income residents access to which generous objects.

New Loftkonzepte

A further development of Loftgedankens in the newer part is the CarLoft.

A Loftreihenhaus combines the generous scale and the industrial character of a classic loft with the advantages of a terraced house.

In architectural circles the softening of the original Loftbegriffs favor of linguistic Aufwertens actually conventional housing concepts is controversial.