Imagine 07. Reimagining Housing

Architects much prefer to design new buildings. It gives a clear style and language, defines a position and contributes to developments in architecture. But today’s reality is that most buildings we will use in the future have already been built. We are required to reimagine them, whether refurbishing them for a better performance or giving them an entirely new duty.

This is the theme Reimagining Housing is targeting: the potentials of refurbishing an existing building not just to better insulate it but also to generate a new idea for the existing house, whether in the sense of retaining its spirit, refreshing it, spicing it up or renovating it completely.

This theme is placed in relation to the various existing dwelling and housing types in the region that combines the provinces of Groningen in the Netherlands and Niedersachsen in Germany – a typical non-urban European region. The book concludes with a welter of ideas, sketches and concepts that will challenge and provoke the thinking of architects.