Future Visions for Collective Living – Lost past as inspiration for the future

The Dutch housing market faces major challenges due to changing housing needs. Rising home prices, an aging population, and growing demand for sustainable living make it necessary to develop new, innovative housing solutions.

Historically, collective living arrangements were common worldwide. Only after the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century did the modern nuclear family and single-family homes become dominant, separating living and working spaces more clearly.

Today, there is renewed interest in collective living driven by various motivations. What needs and values underlie this? In addition to timeless values such as care and community spirit, current themes like sustainability and flexibility are important. Examining both these constant and changing housing needs provides insight for designing future-proof living arrangements.

The project

In practice, residents often express their wishes based on familiar examples. This project focuses on co-creation between architects and residents, using experiences from the past to develop innovative and sustainable solutions. The participatory "Research through Design" method is applied, aiming to create tools that better translate residents’ underlying values into design criteria, thereby strengthening the design process.

€47.842 will be used as a PPP programme allowance.