In times where our homes have become the toys of international real estate speculators, where profit is seen as the only value a building can bring and where the realisation of virtual potential shapes our everyday lives - we have to become active to fight the ongoing commodification of our own apartments and neighborhoods. If we don‘t act now we are risking a future where housing becomes a luxury good only accessible for few. This is a tragic transnational phenomenon, and not a new problem. But it is becoming more pressing every day.
Every project is shaped by the existing legislation it originates from. What if we would challenge this starting point and ask the fundamental question: What would a right to housing mean? Together with the non-profit policy lab HouseEurope! that was co-initiated by s+ at ETH Zurich we investigate European legislation and translate it into design in the effort to establish a European right to housing.
Students become experts to the national context and one case study they investigate. Beyond traditional architectural production, the studio delves into theoretical considerations as well as the agency of architects. It treats design as a medium of knowledge transfer on architecture beyond the built. Instead of becoming powerless in view of the polycrises we are facing, it claims that architects must become active, challenging and shaping the political framework they are practising in.
The commodification of housing is a transnational problem. Looking only at one country would make no sense. When designing the legal proposal of the HouseEurope! campaign „Power to Renovation“ there was a – perhaps obvious but very elightening – realisation to be made: Each EU country has different laws governing renovation and transformation, demolition and new construction. And the same goes for our right to housing. But what does this multitude of legal bases entail? Most importantly, that we can learn from one another. Some countries may have progressive laws in place, others fall behind. After searching for precedence both in policy-making and building within one chosen national context there will be several moments within the semester, where students can learn from all the other contexts through their peers.
