Social Housing

Across Europe a new generation of practices are transformingsocial housing. Responding to continued high demand, changing clients and newfunding methods, architects are once again addressing how homes are deliveredat scale, achieving high standards of design and a new focus on city making.

Bringing together 24 exemplar case studies and featuring arange of interviews and testimonies, SocialHousing explores the best new housing at a pivotal time for the sector. Consideringshifting definitions of tenure and featuring a variety of typologies andemerging themes, the projects together offer a challenge to housingprofessionals to rethink how we build and highlight the vital role of housingin the life of our cities.

“Providing an astute survey of exemplar projects from the UK andacross Europe, it should be essential reading for all architects and clientsworking in the sector.” - Ellis Woodman, Director, Architecture Foundation

“Good social housing is re-emerging across Europe in the handsof committed architects and clients. This is a repository of the best ideas inreal-life projects.” - Hugh Pearman, Editor, RIBA Journal

“This book is invaluable in showcasing impressively what can beachieved in designing and planning new social housing even now, but also inmaking clear the hoops councils are forced to jump through to provide it, andoffering examples from elsewhere in Europe.” - Owen Hatherley, journalist

“A fascinating overview of social housing today. Complete withthe essential nitty gritty details of plans, sections, budgets and timeframes,it's both a practical manual and optimistic manifesto for what it's possible toachieve, against all the odds.” - Oliver Wainwright, architecture and design critic, The Guardian

“"The layout of the book presents a series of projects, arranged by theme, from both the UK and Europe, interleaved with historical notes and interviews. Neave Brown, legendary in housing circles for his work in Camden in the 1960s, recalls the working conditions that allowed seminal schemes such as Winscombe Street and Alexandra Road to be built with an inventiveness that has been thoroughly exorcised by the tenets of the New Urbanism. The move to restore urban legibility in housing projects is no bad thing, but the sheer ingenuity of the 1960s surely has something to teach us. Dominic Papa covers these points in a thoughtful interview introducing the section on how urban scale strategies might contribute to housing provision." Harry Margalit, International Journal of Housing Policy. By Paul Karakusevic and Abigail Batchelor”

"The layout of the book presents a series of projects, arranged by theme, from both the UK and Europe, interleaved with historical notes and interviews. Neave Brown, legendary in housing circles for his work in Camden in the 1960s, recalls the working conditions that allowed seminal schemes such as Winscombe Street and Alexandra Road to be built with an inventiveness that has been thoroughly exorcised by the tenets of the New Urbanism. The move to restore urban legibility in housing projects is no bad thing, but the sheer ingenuity of the 1960s surely has something to teach us. Dominic Papa covers these points in a thoughtful interview introducing the section on how urban scale strategies might contribute to housing provision." Harry Margalit, International Journal of Housing Policy. By Paul Karakusevic and Abigail Batchelor

Paul Karakusevic, director of Karakusevic Carson Architects, established the practice with the ambition of improving the quality of social housing in London. The focus for the practice is the delivery of successful and sustainable neighbourhoods, mixed-tenure housing and civic buildings that reflect both their unique, local sense of place and the real needs of the communities involved. In addition to his nationally and internationally recognised experience with the practice, Paul is a Design Advisor to the HCA/GLA, Urban Design London and Design Council/CABE and lends his experience to audits, critiques and review and awards panels of major initiatives and projects across the UK.Abigail is an associate at Karakusevic Carson. An architect and urbanist who trained at the University of Sheffield and London School of Economics, she is a housing specialist with over 15 years’ experience in the UK and the Netherlands. She has taught the Housing and Urbanism masters at the Architectural Association and is a lecturer at London Metropolitan University. Abigail is particularly interested in the domestic realm in relation to development and the meanings of place within a globalised market.

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