DASH Experimental Housing

The current housing crisis calls for creative solutions, but the primacy of the market seems to leave little room for truly innovative initiatives. Between 1968 and 1980, by contrast, there were plenty of experiments in housing design, made possible in part by the then Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning. They led to a wide range of alternatives to the uniformity of the mass housing of the time.

This edition of DASH takes the historical Experimental Housing Programme as an inspiring starting point in a search for alternative housing forms, typologies and construction methods. It highlights appealing Dutch examples, such as Aldo van Eyck and Theo Bosch’s ground-breaking Onder de Bogen in Zwolle and Abe Bonnema’s Vier Vier kanten in Alkmaar, complemented by exceptional examples from abroad: from Sweden, Great Britain, Spain, Australia, Israel, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Interviews with architecture historian Mieke Dings and former Dutch Government Architect Floris Alkemade explore the challenges and opportunities for housing renewal driven by a proactive government and creative market players.