Following the release of Social Housing, a book spotlighting Europe's best public housing projects, architect and co-author Paul Karakusevic has selected seven residential developments he thinks are particularly innovative.
Designs by architects including Assemble?, ?Lacaton & Vassal, Mecanoo and Sergison Bates are among the 24 case studies in the book, which was co-authored by the Karakusevic Carson Architects director and his colleague Abigail Batchelor.
They are also presented in an exhibition at the Royal Institute of British Architects headquarters in London, accompanied by a wide selection of scale models.
The aim was to shine a light on the latest generation of social housing architects, who are challenged with maintaining design quality while faced with new funding models and ever-increasing demand. "This book is about raising awareness, championing great architecture, client-side process and providing meaningful case studies so that students and housing professionals of all kinds might think differently. It brings together outstanding schemes, delivered in challenging circumstances by thoughtful architects working in collaboration with communities," said Karakusevic.
Models of the social housing projects in the book are on show in an RIBA exhibition until 28 May 2017
The London-based architect ? who has worked extensively in housing, and has one of his own projects in the book ? hopes the research will provide a source of inspira...