The Question of Housing, Between Crisis and Opportunity. The Case of CIAM VI
The Question of Housing, Between Crisis and Opportunity. The Case of CIAM VI

Summary/Abstract: In recent years housing research has attracted the interest of many disciplines. Architects, urban planners, civil engineers, more recently psychologists, sociologists, doctors, and computer scientists are experimenting with the question of dwelling, combining their field’s state of the art with technological advances and new digital tools. In 2020, the Covid-19 crisis and the cities’ lockdown experience brought once more to the fore the current housing problems. The breakdown of the professional and production activities and the social distancing measures led to an obligatory “stay at home” and an everyday coexistence of all members of the household in the house for the whole day. A specific size of square meters had to host different uses, varied from professional, educational, leisure, and normal daily activities. As such, a lack of space was observed, a fact that greatly affected the quality of housing. At the same time in many parts of Europe, a real estate housing boom is observed, thus further contributing to inequity of access to proper housing quality, especially for the parts of society that need it the most. Given the fact that crises usually accelerate changes in affected fields, it is expected that the pandemic crisis will also lead to a change regarding the perceived ideas of housing and the discipline of architecture - or even the profession of architect - in both theory and practice. In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be expected that new questions and research agendas regarding housing will once more return to the epicenter of the architectural and urban studies interest. To contribute to the discussion ahead, this paper offers historical insight into relevant periods of crisis, focusing on the way architects responded to new needs and conditions, formed coalitions and groups, and managed or failed to provide relevant answers.

• Details
• Contents