a+t architecture publishers

Density is Home echoes the types of city -dispersed, expansive, modern, the core of the city and the recycled city- where we live today through 37 projects on collective housing.

Type 3: The modern city.

The estates which were built during the economic expansion following the Second World War are the outcome of strong-willed policies which meant a break with the existing city fabric: upon an empty and unconnected board housing blocks peppered with facilities were laid out, turning these areas into segregated pieces on the urban grid. Many of these estates have become the focus of a profound social malaise and for this reason they are becoming targets for policies aimed at improving the material quality of the construction and fighting social segregation. Hence we are witnessing operations inserting new enriched housing programmes into spaces left vacant by modern urban planning*. 

*Summary of the texts written by Javier Arpa, that introduce each type of city.

Page from the project Tour Boisle Pretre by Druot, Lacaton & Vassal, an example of collective housing placed in the modern city:

Project published in Density is Home