What if the ground of the city was publicly owned? What if housing was a common good? With that premise in mind, what type of housing models and urban configurations could be imagined?

In this studio, students will draw new collective housing alternatives and new urban commons. Either focusing on exploring the architectural qualities of those co-housing spaces—from the entrance space to the inside of the apartment—or on the common ground of the city. The goal is to reinvent and design new shared spaces and inhabiting practices based on cooperation and equity.

The premise of the brief for the students this semester will be to consider that land in Oslo is a public asset and that housing is a non-profit sector. By changing the status quo, new opportunities for housing arise and the loss of public space in urban areas overtime can be prevented. Ranging from the scale of the neighborhood all the way to the scale of the dwelling unit, the detailed architectural and landscape proposals will address through models and drawings new ways of living together. 

If a site belongs to the public, the choice of when, where, and how to build is completely free. The first task of urban planning today is thus to return to the authorities a power which it previously had, the power over urban land. (Hertweck, 2020)

Over the past decades, the city administrations around the globe have relinquished governance over the housing market to the voracious forces of neoliberal urban development. Policies and politicians fail to address the problem of the increasing need for affordable living spaces and more inclusive urban spaces. In the meantime, the architect’s role is being reduced to that of a consultant or service provider for developers and land owners, but rather than standing up and reclaiming our role in serving the general interest we sit silently and compromise. Today there is a window of opportunity, it is time we all use our knowledge and skills to support radical political and activist agendas.

Living space is a scarce resource in the twenty-first century - this has become increasingly clear over the past decade. More and more people are living in cities, yet urban living space is limited and property speculation has made it unaffordable for many. (Kries, Müller, Niggli, Ruby, 2017)

In 2019 in Oslo, the movement Boligopprøret (Housing rebellion) has shed the light on the precarious and unstable living conditions of the municipal housing system and the lack of social housing policies in Norway. The system acts as a poverty trap for minoritized and vulnerable population groups while widening the inequality gap between owners and renters. Activist groups such as Reduser Husleia (Reduce the rent) ask for radical changes in the way we consider housing, demanding to take profit out of the housing sector. Other initiatives such as the social enterprise Nedenfra or Tøyenboligbyggelag offer alternatives, advocating for citizen-led urban planning and exploring the implementation of a not-for-profit housing sector in Oslo. Inspired by many international examples such as the co-operative housing model in Zürich, Berlin or Catalonia Spain (Triviño Massó, 2021) Tøyenboligbyggelag demonstrates that an equitable solution to the housing question is simple and that it has the potential to promote meaningful political and urban changes in Norway.  

Co-operative housing production is aiming at the creation of social capital, which assembles tangible as well as intangible resources for shared interests while simultaneously including demands of minority groups. … Moreover, engaging with co-operative practices by means of housing production can also serve as a role model and active tool for promoting political and urban change from within the system. (Hehl, 2020)

Primarily defining housing as a profitable commodity is a fundamental trigger of the global housing crisis. (...) Instead of promoting speculative operations for a minority, the micro-political agency of co-operative practice can transform housing into a matter of mutual necessities and a resource for the common good. (Hehl, 2020)

How can we—through designing new housing typologies and public spaces—shape better neighborhoods in order to provide everyone with more equitable housing solutions and more inclusive public spaces? 

This studio semester will be linked to the Oslo Architecture Triennale 2022: Mission Neighborhood—(Re)forming communities, happening in Oslo in September 2022.

Footnotes:

Hertweck, Florian, and Université du Luxembourg, eds. 2020. Architecture on common ground the question of land: positions and models. Zürich, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers. p.78

Mateo Kries, Mathias Müller, Daniel Niggli, Andreas Ruby, Ilka Ruby, eds. 2017. Together! The New Architecture of the Collective. Weil am Rhein : Berlin: Vitra Design Museum ; Ruby Press. p.35

Clara Triviño Massó, 2021 in Safe Space zine 4. “The right to housing: a right not guaranteed”. Oslo: Safe Space Publishing. pp.16-24

Rainer Hehl, Patricia Ventura, and Sascha Delz, eds. 2020. Housing the Co-Op: A Micro-Political Manifesto. Berlin: Ruby Press. pp.5-7