Column | Thijs Asselbergs
Close the circle, back to natural materials, flexible and everything loosely manufacturable, parametrically designed, robotised assembly, and fast and industrialised constructionto build.
This is a brief summary of building solutions for the current housing shortage in the Netherlands. Builders anticipate better affordability through the standardisation of housing plans. Architecture is cultural and therefore negotiable – call it a ‘closing item’ – while building technology can be objectively calculated. Housing requirements are translated into a housing standard. Clients use this to select the most optimal building system for them from the corresponding builder/supplier. This is how Dutch new construction can be (quickly) scaled up through standardisation. The role of the user and the architect is thereby marginalised.
But do people want to live in a product or concept in the long run? After all, people need a valuable environment. Neighbourhoods, squares, streets, sunlight, colour, rhythm, balance in the use of materials, and the relationship with the surroundings are just some of the aspects that cannot be standardised. Building components to be prefabricated requires a composition, a conductor who devises which instrument plays which tone at the right time to create sustainable harmony.
Another major challenge also presents itself: each product-developing builder creates its own building standard. Interchangeability of systems is nil: people like to build their own ‘LEGO’, each with a unique shape, but no link is interchangeable. In short, the Netherlands has far too many builders with a fragmented approach. Systems are not interchangeable, let alone adaptable, when housing standards in the future – for example, for demographic reasons – demand different uses. In short, the future demands not less but more design customisation. Clients, their users, designers, and builders must urgently and significantly increase their cooperation to make building systems more interchangeable and adaptable over time so that we can create architecture with future value. This is not just a suggestion, but a necessity if we are to create not just housing, but well-designed, valuable neighbourhoods.
Thijs Asselbergs, Architect and emeritus professor of Architectural Engineering at the Delft University of Technology
Photo: visitors at a model home in Amsterdam Nieuw-West, 1958 / Good Living. Photography: Jan Versnel.
