Year book Ma '15 thesis dwelling supervision EDV.pdf

2024

The crisis of the contemporary urban landscape (meant to convey cultural and social values) is evidenced by the upsurge of self-referential architectural artifacts whose ephemeral features manifest how unsuitable their project-based approach is since it tries to attain spectacular architectural shapes even when dealing with housing. This alarming trend is also present in the Netherlands, even if a relevant tradition regarding the construction of urban spaces by means of facade-prospects is present there. The lack of regard for the cultural and social values of residential collective housing is evidenced nowadays by the ephemeral facades of many Dutch quarters, where the values of traditional collective housing seem to have been lost. In this way, the allencompassing feature of globalization gets confirmed: identical buildings appear in different cities and places. This work focuses on project-based experiences of social housing implemented in some meaningful periods in the development of Dutch housing culture. Such projects are deeply rooted in their sites, and though they do not neglect to produce buildings that meet contemporary requirements, they keep the connections, ensuring continuity with the shapes and construction traditions of the past. In particular, the features of facades-thanks to their formal and construction-related developments-clearly manifest the choice to regard the project as a well-devised blend of past, present, and future. This work relates the results of broader research regarding the urban role of residential collective buildings within the landscape of Dutch architectural culture in the early XX century.

TOSTOES, Ana; FERREIRA, Zara (ed.), Franz Graf, Giulia Marino (guest-ed.), Docomomo Journal, 54 - Housing Reloaded, Docomomo International, Lisbon, 2016

Post-War Housing Complexes in Europe are symbols of architectural, technological and social aspirations. These grands ensembles of Mass Housing have nowadays begun to be appreciated by users and authorities, as integral part of the current city. Whether discussing demolition (as faced by the Smithsons' Robin Hood Gardens and Toulouse's Le Mirail, and commonly seen as a focus for social marginalization), or the growing phenomenon of heritagization (as implicit in the type of person now using the Marseille Unité d’Habitation), the debate today has mainly become centered on the question of: how to keep these large structures alive, while meeting contemporary standards of comfort? Characterized by adventurous experiments in the use of new materials and techniques, space creation and gender transformations, the obsolescence of these big complexes is determined on two different levels: the technical one (regarding comfort, such as thermal or acoustic, and the need for mechanical and safety improvements, as infrastructures, systems, elevators), and the functional one (involving space dimensions, organisation, orientation, and the introduction of new uses); all while complying with current regulatory standards. In addition, these buildings have frequently been intensively used and modified. See full contents at: https://www.docomomo.com/journal/dj-54 https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/54.I.ZCGBQ0C2

2016

As recent international scholarship has shown, the Modern Movement was not as coherent as authors such as Sigfried Giedion or Nikolaus Pevsner have claimed. Postwar modernism in particular has many faces. Although architects produced similar housing typologies that are presented in collective works of social housing within the same category, the architects could still take different positions. By means of a comparative analysis of two radical modernist high-rise housing projects in Antwerp, this article demonstrates how the focus of the design of similar projects could still differ considerably. Designed by Renaat Braem, the Kiel housing estate (1953) in the south of Antwerp will be compared with Hugo Van Kuyck's Luchtbal housing estate (1954-1962) in the city's north. Although both complexes are social housing blocks raised on pilotis, they differ in size, concept, architectural quality and degree of detailing, but also in ideology and utopian content. Both architects share...

…in housing particularly does the true face of the dominant class reveal itself. 1

This call for papers concerns social housing, a rapidly changing and significant field for those who practice architecture, landscape architecture and spatial planning. Present throughout Europe at various levels, from 4% in Romania to 32% in the Netherlands, social housing heavily contributes to urban renewal. Through its material and non-material renovation, as well as the evolution of meanings, stakeholders and populations, new dynamics emerge that influence architectural, urban and landscape forms, modes of living and careers in spatial production. This volume seeks to identify and decode these dynamics through the following three axes.

2015

The Casablanca housing project that has become known in architectural history as “Habitat Marocain” was built by two young Swiss architects—Jean Hentsch and André Studer—during the final phase of the French protectorate in Morocco. This publication presents a kind of dossier on Habitat Marocain. Given the undiminished significance of this key project in culture-specific modern architecture, a publication devoted to its design has long been a desideratum. The approach taken here, moreover, reflects the fact that in order to fully appreciate the project, we need to look at its evolution and what has happened since it was erected. Beyond the original architectural plans, therefore, the dossier also includes the preliminary stages in the project’s design and the architectural transformations that have been undertaken since Habitat Marocain was built. The basic assumption is that Habitat Marocain can only be properly understood in terms of the dynamics between formal and informal building.

2017

As recent international scholarship has shown, the Modern Movement was not as coherent as authors such as Sigfried Giedion or Nikolaus Pevsner have claimed. Postwar modernism in particular has many faces. Although architects produced similar housing typologies that are presented in collective works of social housing within the same category, the architects could still take different positions. By means of a comparative analysis of two radical modernist high-rise housing projects in Antwerp, this article demonstrates how the focus of the design of similar projects could still differ considerably. Designed by Renaat Braem, the Kiel housing estate (1953) in the south of Antwerp will be compared with Hugo Van Kuyck's Luchtbal housing estate (1954-1962) in the city's north. Although both complexes are social housing blocks raised on pilotis, they differ in size, concept, architectural quality and degree of detailing, but also in ideology and utopian content. Both architects shared a fascination for Le Corbusier's Ville Radieuse and for the Athens Charter (1933), and held a belief in progress and the need for a new idiom. At the same time, however, they have different ways of dealing with modernity. I will employ the analytical framework developed by architectural historian Sarah Williams Goldhagen (2000) to shed light on the architects' different positions on the social and political axes.

“A Flexible Frame Method Proposal For A Re-Reading Of Contemporary Housing; Istanbul, Vienna and Amsterdam”, Doctoral Studies on Housing” International Joint Symposium, HERA and HREC, TRNC, North Cyprus, 20-22.05.2008 , 2008

“A Flexible Frame Method Proposal For A Re-Reading Of Contemporary Housing; Istanbul, Vienna and Amsterdam”, Doctoral Studies on Housing” International Joint Symposium, HERA and HREC, TRNC, North Cyprus, 20-22.05.2008

Sustainable Dwelling. Between Polyvalence and Empowerment, 2019

In a context of increasing individualization of our societies, dwelling has developed to become largely a personal feat. Hence, housing can no longer be considered exclusively from a traditional household perspective. Given this context, a combined analysis – both spatial and social - of several housing projects was carried out by researchers in architecture and the humanities. Two projects - La Sécherie in Nantes and Kalkbreite in Zurich - were selected for their use of a particular conception principle: ‘reduction/extension’. This principle implies organizing a dwelling between two poles: a reduced domestic nucleus and a series of additional spaces. Based on this principle, a multiplicity of dwelling configurations can be imagined. All are grounded on the idea that living could take place beyond the traditional limits of housing. Combined with a spatial analysis, a post-occupancy exploration was carried out in both projects, shedding light on the constraints but also the potential of the ‘reduction/extension’ principle. The benefits of this ‘reduction/extension’ principle are twofold. First, dwelling can evolve given the constellation of possible housing configurations. Second, inhabitants are able to make their own dwelling choices. This combination of domestic polyvalence and dwellers’ empowerment is a key for sustainable housing designs.

Steel Construction, 2016