Stijn Dries

Housing the precariat

Two thirds of the houses in The Netherlands are built for what a household is in the popular imagination: two parents and two point four children. 
 
In fact, two thirds of households in the Netherlands are comprised of one or two people. There is a massive mismatch between supply and demand. Neither the market, nor the government, is creating what people need: affordable and suitable housing for one of two inhabitants. 

Resident-owned co-housing is emerging as part of the solution to the unfolding housing crisis. As with any emerging concept, the word ‘co-housing’ carries an aura of vagueness and ambiguity. Co-housing is a typology to create affordable, and suitable, housing for the contemporary working class (precariat). It can play a pivotal part in guiding us to a system where co-ownership is a viable and desirable option in the popular imagination.  

Below you will find my three booklets: 

1/3 · Why it is necessary to create resident owned co-Housing  
2/3 · How can architecture be deployed to create resident owned co-Housing  
3/3 · What could resident owned co-Housing look like in The Netherlands 

Graduation date: 6 May 2024
Graduation committee: Laura Álvarez (mentor), Peter Kuenzli, Niels Groeneveld
Additional members for the exam: Bastiaan Jongerius, Machiel Spaan