Housing: New Alternatives, New Systems

Forms of innovative housing in an urban context are knowledgeably analyzed in this survey and introduced systematically with numerous examples from famous international architects. Architects are searching for adequate new systems for urban housing construction given the background environment of the changing cities. The vital interest pertaining to these innovative fields of activity led the editor to critically examine realized buildings as well as planned projects. In the first section of the publication, the latest developments and research are competently placed into contexts and explained to the reader. In the second section, the housing and projects that can be considered paradigmatic are presented according to contextual aspects. The illustrative material (sketches, plans, model pictures, etc.) is for the most part published here for the first time. Works by the following architects are discussed in this volume: Adriaan Geuze & West 8, Ben van Berkel, MVRDV, Willem Jan Neutelings, Eduard Bru/OAS, Actar Arquitectura, allas/Diacomidis/Papandreou/Haritos/Nikomidos, Soriano-Palacios, Riegler & Riewe, Kees Christiaanse, Josep Llu's Mateo, Hans Kollhoff, Wiel Arets, Philippe Gazeau, Francis Soler, Steven Holl, Kas Oosterhuis, Josep Llinàs, Marzelle/Manescau/Steeg, Jean Nouvel, Eduardo Souto de Moura. The editor and principal author is an architect, director of the architectural magazine "Quaderns" and teaches at various universities.