Archipel

Theme 2023

In 2023, Archipel is focussing on housing, and more specifically on “more than housing”. Living in cities is becoming unaffordable. Migration to cities is on the rise once more. The rising number of elderly people, changing housing needs and growing population are affecting the future of the city. The mismatch between current real estate policies and the need for affordable housing seems to be growing. How can living in the city remain both attractive and affordable?

Lecture

28.09

Small scaled social housing

Quality housing for vulnerable groups in Ghent

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.

Trip

11.10 — 15.10

Zürich

Living, collectivity and craftsmanship

Zurich is a city in permanent development and carries housing and architectural quality high on its agenda. In the last decades, Switzerland has been a leader in the conception and realisation of collective housing cooperatives. Their unique housing concepts and management models are highly regarded in the rest of the world. Archipel, with its focus on housing in 2023, is also looking to Switzerland for inspiration and organising a study trip to Zurich.

Lecture

26.10

Care homes in Kortrijk

In search of innovative housing concepts

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.

Lecture

16.11

Rethinking housing

A plea for ‘new standards'

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.

Lecture

30.11

Big scale residential housing

How to renovate large-scale post-war housing?

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 Sint-Jans-Molenbeek.

Lecture

14.12

New Ghent: park, street, square

Transition from a social housing enclave to a sustainable future perspective

New Ghent is undergoing a metamorphosis. This large-scale operation falls within the ambitious vision of the social housing company Thuispunt Gent 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.