ABSTRACT
This chapter walks through a five-step process of becoming a planner and thinking like the Baugruppe while reflecting on the challenges this presents for research on home. The five steps are: becoming a member, surviving the email communication, learning the lingo, becoming active and embracing shared values. After completing these steps, one has learned not only to think of home as a dweller, but as a planner. To become an active participant in planning this future residence, one first needed to become a member of the group. This Baugruppe would meet once a month to make decisions, ranging from the kinds of plants on the property, to approving quarter-million-euro budget increases. Email was an important medium for exchanging information within the group. Often emails would come from the two coordinators who were employed by the Baugruppe to manage the entire project.
