DETAIL: Best of Housing

Best of Housing by DETAIL Magazine: Housing is something individual: we each have our own ideas and aspirations for it, and we express a lifestyle by the way in which we house ourselves — the way in which we dwell. To dwell means to be “at home”, where one ideally has a sense of well-being.

When it comes to housing, there have been numerous studies of standards, developments and trends, which have analysed and compared people’s needs. But as needs change over time, so do trends. And also the global and demographic changes affecting society alter the way we dwell and flexibility becomes a decisive criterion.

The subject of housing also includes the integration of individual buildings in an urban context. Especially in cities, people often live in compact spaces in which there are fewer personal spaces and more communal areas. Yet each of us longs for a space of our own. Therefore it becomes important that designers develop ideas that meet our shared need for a balance between personal and communal space.

This publication brings together the highlights from DETAIL on the subject of housing. An extensive series of successful case studies provides an insight into the variety of forms of housing, and besides providing a theoretical foundation for the subject, offers above all inspiration, and not least a great deal of constructive solutions.

Theory + knowledge
008 How Do We Want to Live in the Future?
012 Community Housing- Past and Present
016 Potentials for Housing- A Survey of the Housing Market in Munich
019 Spaces with Particular Qualities- Swiss Housing
022 Environmentally Sustainable Housing: Sandards and Innovations
029 Improving the Energy Perfomance of European Housing Stock
033 Wood-Panel Facades – Eco-Refurbishment of Multi-Storey Buildings
037 The Balcony Is Dead. Long Live the Loggia? New Facades in Housing
041 Architecture Between Local Solutions and Global Civilizations

In practice
046 Student Halls of Residence in Copenhagen
056 Housing for a Housing Cooperative in Berlin
068 Housing Blocks 1 and 2 in Groningen

Case studies
082 Apartment Towers in Antwerp
088 High-Rise Housing in Bangkok
093 Townhouse in Munich
098 Apartment Building in Munich
100 Flats in London
104 Hall Houses in Winterthur
108 Multy-Family House in Zurich
112 Apartment Building in Hamburg
116 Apartment Building in Berlin
120 Apartment Blocks in London
124 Housing and Commercial Development in Basel
130 Housing and Commercial Development in Neu-Ulm
136 Apartment, Retail and Office Building in Baden