Chiara Gambarana: "The co-design process should be indispensable; people should be empowered to design their own solutions."

In today's world, where the urban footprint is expanding rapidly and construction costs severely impact the planet, alternative solutions have emerged that return to essential principles. During the 2020 Academic Housing Forum at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, key issues surrounding the critical housing situation in a developing country like Colombia were presented.

One of the speakers presented an alternative solution for co-housing that leverages fundamental human principles like empathy and community collaboration. Italian designer Chiara Gambarana presented the Housing Lab project, which uses participatory design to generate realistic and sustainable projects for the communities that inhabit them.