Village living. Exploring local design futures of intergenerational housing in a Belgian village.

Abstract

Belgian housing culture has promoted private ownership of single-family houses after the Second World War. This housing typology has become increasingly problematic when confronted with contemporary societal challenges such as providing housing for an ageing and growingly diverse population, specifically in rural areas. Recent architectural policy has therefore shifted attention from densification in urban centers to densification taking into account the intrinsic qualities of village architecture. This study explores which alternative housing models can be imagined, taking into consideration intergenerational living, older inhabitants’ wellbeing and village architecture. During one semester, with 3rd bachelor students in architecture, we analysed a specific Belgian village, explored spatial strategies for designated sites and specified housing designs to a detailed architectural scale. Our results propose typologies for collective intergenerational village housing. The knowledge produced by our design studio is considered as situated design futures which imagine how architecture can promote wellbeing through facilitating future assemblages of ageing persons, evolving villages and historically meaningful buildings.