cologne will have an escalating need for housing for individuals in the future. about one quarter of the inhabitants live in single households today - with upward tendency. young people, single people, students, workers but also single pensioners and small families find it very difficult to find appropriate small housing units within the city. it is presumed in an older city like cologne, that high efficiency housing sites have already been developed. the alternative to be examined are the numerous un- or under-developed gaps in the innercity. these ´leftovers´ - caused by war damages, replacement of old buildings or the construction of new ones - have a high potential in urban planing. 

the aim of the design task ´snap the gap´ is to use the benefits of these forgotten alleys and gaps and to transform them into practical and desirable urban habitable spaces.