Throughout history, the quest for affordable housing has led to numerous experiments with building methods. Modular construction has had varying degrees of success. Can modular construction offer an answer today? Aurelie De Smet, as a researcher in the field of modular building, frames cases in the long history of experimental building methods for living. Mosard vzw and B+ architects speak from practice.

What if a post-war apartment block with 220 owners needs to be climate-proofed? What is their relevance today? How does the ensemble connect to the new developments around the Dokken and Afrikalaan? And how can an energy-efficient renovation be done in an affordable way? TV Studio Tuin en Wereld – AgwA – Domus Mundi draws the concept for the future of the Scandinavia Blocks. The lecture will be preceded by an art project around this residential block by Timo Tembuyser and Naomi Steijger.

How can we keep housing affordable? Is the shift to a different development model a solution? Shouldn’t we be looking for housing models that can engage people to collectively find answers to housing needs and preferences? Looking at three examples, we examine the impact of other governance models on architecture for housing.

In the search for more spatial quality within an affordable housing framework, we often see creative solutions to generate alternative programs/spaces within the metropolitan framework in order to live more densely and at the same time more poetically. An evening of inspiration with good practices.

Collective housing is increasingly viewed in Flanders as a beneficial strategy to achieve individual and societal gains such as affordable housing, ecological living, landscape-saving living, more inclusive living and more social living. But can we simply assume that these gains will also be robust against unforeseen circumstances in the long term? By examining the evolution of a number of historical collective housing forms at home and abroad, Glenn Lyppens sheds new light within his doctorate on the (inm)ability of spatial design in this regard.

In Ghent, the housing shortage is particularly high. As the city of Ghent is now growing, the amount of housing must grow significantly every year to keep pace. The social housing company WoninGent must provide an answer to the need for quality and affordable social housing for the lowest income categories in the city. They do this both by tackling existing buildings that no longer meet current energy requirements and by building new social housing. We zoom in on the small scale of social housing in Ghent.

The health and well-being of all people in Flanders, young and old, is important. There must be sufficient and quality care facilities in home care, care for the elderly, general and mental health care. In Kortrijk, we zoom in on intergenerational living and home care.

Duplex Architekten shows how innovative housing can function in Switzerland and what contribution it can make to urban development. We place this lecture in a broader study of new financing models for the housing market and alternative forms of housing within which housing can remain affordable.

We are facing a huge renovation challenge with regard to the severely outdated residential patrimony, and not least with regard to the post-war residential towers. Where until a few years ago demolition-reconstruction was still proposed without batting an eye, now the quality of the buildings on the one hand and financial / ecological impact on the other hand have more impact on decisions to demolish or not. We take a closer look at three large residential ensembles (two towers and a neighbourhood) and listen to the challenges and opportunities through a research project on the transformation strategy of a residential tower in St-Joost-ten-Node.

New Ghent is undergoing a metamorphosis. This large-scale operation falls within the ambitious vision of the social housing company WoninGent to provide more high-quality social housing in the growing city of Ghent, which is struggling with severe housing shortages. Various teams of architects are following two main lines in the creation of a contemporary residential park: making connections to the larger urban whole and creating cohesion on a human scale. We dive into New Ghent.