Holyland Park Housing, Jerusalem, 2007
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Course Description
This course will research, document and critically interpret typologies of collective housing worldwide and within Israel. Learning from truly innovative international housing design strategies we will question local and global futures for collective housing. In recent years, housing, which is usually considered a secondary kind of architecture, has been gaining ground as a crucial component of architectural practice. At the same time, a privatizing economy has led to a crisis among architects who have been marginalized in the process. The contemporary city, 95% made up of residential urban tissue, is currently undergoing major structural changes and thus in dire need of innovative housing schemes.
Recognizing the importance of housing as the basic component of urbanity, the idea of ‘neighboring’ will be the central research focus of this course. How does housing produce or prevent collectivity? What is the function of shared spaces? What kind of city does contemporary housing produce? Throughout the course, students will identify the different neighbors, study different types of neighborhoods and discover alternative processes of neighboring.
NEIGHBORS: Who lives in the project, who lives nextdoor, what kind of ethnicities, religions, communities do they represent? What is their family structure, what are their activities. How does the unit respond to these neighbors. How does the design of the building allow or prohibit certain neighbors to use/access certain spaces.
NEIGHBORHOODS: Is the building part of a neighborhood? What is the urban structure of the neighborhood? How far does the neighborhood reach? Who belongs to the neighborhood? How does the design of the building change the existing neighborhood structure? What kind of neighborhood(s) does it envision? How coherent are these envisioned neighborhoods?
NEIGHBORING: How many shared spaces does the building provide? How do neighbors interact? How does the building change existing relationships and interactions between neighbors? How does the building enhance or decrease the possibility for future interactions?
This research does not operate based on nostalgia for the lost splendor of existing cities but instead aims to envision not yet existing urban futures. These future cities fully take part in current socio-economic tendencies of privatization and globalization, which require new urban formations of built and open space. The issue of housing will be placed within a larger perspective of contemporary urbanity, challenged by issues such as suburbanization, de- and re-densification, the loss of public space, privatization of the housing market, a pressured environment, heightened levels of security and gentrification.
Over the last decades, housing construction in Israel underwent an impressive process of privatization. Together with the development of new building codes and regulations, this created a distinct range of new high and mid rise housing typologies. At the same time, a tendency to social segregation led to a search for higher densities. This course will critically investigate these phenomena from an international and global perspective.
Recognizing the importance of housing as the basic component of urbanity, the idea of ‘neighboring’ will be the central research focus of this course. How does housing produce or prevent collectivity? What is the function of shared spaces? What kind of city does contemporary housing produce? Throughout the course, students will identify the different neighbors, study different types of neighborhoods and discover alternative processes of neighboring.
NEIGHBORS: Who lives in the project, who lives nextdoor, what kind of ethnicities, religions, communities do they represent? What is their family structure, what are their activities. How does the unit respond to these neighbors. How does the design of the building allow or prohibit certain neighbors to use/access certain spaces.
NEIGHBORHOODS: Is the building part of a neighborhood? What is the urban structure of the neighborhood? How far does the neighborhood reach? Who belongs to the neighborhood? How does the design of the building change the existing neighborhood structure? What kind of neighborhood(s) does it envision? How coherent are these envisioned neighborhoods?
NEIGHBORING: How many shared spaces does the building provide? How do neighbors interact? How does the building change existing relationships and interactions between neighbors? How does the building enhance or decrease the possibility for future interactions?
This research does not operate based on nostalgia for the lost splendor of existing cities but instead aims to envision not yet existing urban futures. These future cities fully take part in current socio-economic tendencies of privatization and globalization, which require new urban formations of built and open space. The issue of housing will be placed within a larger perspective of contemporary urbanity, challenged by issues such as suburbanization, de- and re-densification, the loss of public space, privatization of the housing market, a pressured environment, heightened levels of security and gentrification.
Over the last decades, housing construction in Israel underwent an impressive process of privatization. Together with the development of new building codes and regulations, this created a distinct range of new high and mid rise housing typologies. At the same time, a tendency to social segregation led to a search for higher densities. This course will critically investigate these phenomena from an international and global perspective.
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