Between Seriality and Monumentality

Assignment: study on the architecture of the new residential court
Year: 2009
Client: Tijdschrift DASH, Faculteit bouwkunde, TU Delft.
Publisher: NAI uitgeverij, Rotterdam

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In the past few years, a new generation of housing ensembles has emerged. Despite great differences in appearance, these new complexes have one important characteristic in common: the ‘new open space’ within them that is created by the arrangement of the buildings and which gives the ensemble its architectural identity.

This open space is a new phenomenon within the Dutch tradition of residential blocks in several ways. In size, shape and architectural expression, it is different from what was previously built. Moreover, it is new in terms of layout and use: it would seem that the relation between the public and the private domain is changing. Finally, the new open space implies fundamental changes in housing conditions as a whole: in the relation between the home, its surroundings and the city. This investigation focuses on the composition of the new open space and its significance for architecture and urban design, with the aim of examining the new open space as an architectural answer to contemporary social developments.