Summer reads
Our proposal for the print companion of your holidays
Brussels, 7 July 2017 | Published in Social
Who said that books around housing issues are boring? We decided to bust this myth and we put together a list of books that could be the perfect companion for your summer break...
Together! Towards the new Architecture of the Collective
The keynote speaker of our conference at the International Social Housing Festival in Amsterdam, Publisher and Curator, Ilka Ruby is one of the people behind this book. This valuable illustration of the renewed interest in forms of collective living is an inspiring resource that includes many concrete examples from around the globe and many great images.
The book presents a unique overview of twenty-two contemporary collective housing projects from Europe, Asia, and the United States. The project register is complemented by a lush visual timeline, which places this new collective turn in housing within a genealogy of utopian housing projects and countercultural movements from the nineteenth century on. At the heart of the publication are visual essays by the photographer Daniel Burchard, which give the reader a subtle introduction to the inclusive domestic atmospheres of eight selected housing projects in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Japan. Critical essays by Andreas Hofer, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Anna Puigjaner, Robert Temel, Yuma Shinohara, and the editors of the book analyze the search for the collective as the defining force in the development of housing from the beginnings of modernism until today.
Arrival City
Doug Saunders was the keynote speaker at the Opening Event of the International Social Housing Festival where he explained what makes an 'Arrival City' and why these places in the global metropolitan centers are crucial. History’s largest migration is creating new urban spaces that are this century’s focal points of conflict and change — unseen districts of rapid transformation and febrile activity that will reshape our cities and reconfigure our economies.
In his renowned book, award-winning journalist and author, Doug Saunders takes you on a detailed tour of 30 cities and villages on five continents, introducing you to the people and communities whose tragedies and victories are changing the world.
In Defense of Housing
In every major city in the world there is a housing crisis. How did this happen and what can we do about it? Everyone needs and deserves housing. But today our homes are being transformed into commodities, making the inequalities of the city ever more acute. Profit has become more important than social need. The poor are forced to pay more for worse housing. Communities are faced with the violence of displacement and gentrification. And the benefits of decent housing are only available for those who can afford it.
In Defense of Housing is the definitive statement on this crisis from leading urban planner Peter Marcuse and sociologist David Madden. They look at the causes and consequences of the housing problem and detail the need for progressive alternatives. The housing crisis cannot be solved by minor policy shifts, they argue. Rather, the housing crisis has deep political and economic roots—and therefore requires a radical response.
Enjoy the read!