Welcome to the Spring 2024 edition of the AoU Here & Now online journal, themed on Housing: The Alternatives
Click here or any of the highlighted names below to read the e-journal in full.
Letter from the Editors
Building on the momentum of our re-launch in Winter, this issue of Here & Now takes aim at one of the knottiest problems facing the built environment. We often hear that the answer to the housing crisis is to ‘build more houses’ but this neglects to consider the multi-faceted, interdisciplinary, and interpersonal aspects around community, wellbeing, and place that house-building rarely addresses. This issue asks whether that cookie-cutter solution is still fit for purpose and without spoiling, we can confirm it isn’t.
We’re excited to present an issue brimming with incredible insights reimagining the way we live, and revisioning what our future will look like. Houses are more than simply bricks and mortar, they are places for community-building, for memory-making, and for celebrating. Housing takes on a whole new role in building a sustainable and inclusive urban future when we conceive of our homes as places of possibility for generation-spanning connection and collectivism.
To open this issue, Nick Falk reviews ‘Manchester Unspun’, and our MyPlace contributors share their housing stories before ArtPlace takes us to Manhattan. For the headliner, Andrew Bailie interviews Charles Durrett, the American architect who brought the concept of co-housing to the US – with an introduction from Owen Jarvis.
Subsequently Damien Sharkey provides a handbook for growing co-living in the UK, while Neil Murphy considers the distinction between this and co-housing. Liane Hartley advocates for mindset shift, Gary Duncan playfully interrogates why planning and development has moved from help to hindrance, and Janet Sutherland calls for more inclusive housing to address our ageing population. Together Leyla Moy and Maisie Zheng trace the legacy of Span Developments before Leyla explores the ‘Tiny House’ phenomena.
Finally Andreas Markides returns as our resident philosopher to question our collective values concerning housing.
As always, if you were inspired to respond to what you read or wanted to submit an idea of your own, please get in touch with Here & Now at journal@theaou.org
We hope you enjoy!
Yours,
The editorial team
