unbau – Office for the Existing
Laura Loranzi
What has connected my studies and professional experience is a continuing interest in one question: how will we live together in the future and how can our cities adapt to changing ways of living?
I first studied Art History before going on to study Architecture at TU Vienna. During that time, I became increasingly interested in housing, cities and the relationship between people and the built environment.
In 2016, I moved to Berlin for an architectural internship. While working on new housing developments, I found myself increasingly drawn to the city's mix of building types and histories. Living in Berlin made me question not only how we build new spaces, but how existing ones can continue to evolve over time.
This led me to a Master's in Interior Design, where I focused on adaptive reuse, communal housing and the potential of the built environment. Researching vacancy across Berlin reinforced my belief that many of the resources we need already exist. It deepened my interest in how existing buildings can remain adaptable and relevant as society changes.
After graduating, I founded unbau together with graphic and type designer Sascha Bente in Berlin. Our practice combines architecture, research and (visual) communication to explore how existing buildings can support more inclusive, adaptable and resource-conscious ways of living together. Rather than treating architecture as a fixed object, we see buildings as frameworks that can evolve alongside the people and communities who use them. We see existing buildings not as constraints, but as opportunities to rethink how we live, work and share space together.
In June 2026, our entry to the DEMOT Affordable Housing Plan — a counter-competition for transforming the former European Commission buildings on Rue Demot in Brussels into affordable housing — marked unbau's first competition, testing our approach to reuse and communication in practice in vacant urban space.
We firmly believe that enough architectural resources already exist. Yet across European cities, thousands of buildings remain vacant while a huge demand for affordable housing and communal infrastructure continues to grow. We do not see vacant buildings as voids, but as resources for new ways of living, gathering and inhabiting together. unbau was founded in response to these environmental and social contradictions.
Observation comes before intervention. We begin by understanding what already exists: the building, its materials, its history and its spatial qualities. Before suggesting change, we try to comprehend a potential by understanding its context and identifying all existing traces.
From observation, we move on to evaluation. Instead of viewing existing buildings as limitations, we see them as a starting point for future opportunities. We work with what is already there. Rather than adding something, we often ask ourselves what can be uncovered, preserved, or carefully reimagined to extend the lifespan of buildings and materials.
Communication is an essential part of our practice. We believe that transforming buildings also requires transforming the way we perceive them. Through visual and narrative storytelling in physical publications and digital media, we aim to make vacancy more visible and reveal the potential of the existing built environment to a wider audience. We make reduction desirable.
As unbau develops, we want to push this idea further: not only making vacancy visible, but designing for buildings that stay adaptable as communal needs change – flexible, inclusive rooms that can shift from gathering space to shelter from heat as our summers grow hotter. We see transformation not as a replacement but as a further development built on it – together with local communities, institutions and designers.