Jeanne Gang Will Discuss the Microcosm of the Urban Milieu in Prague
Martin Barry walks you through program tips for reSITE 2018: Jeanne Gang, the Founding Principal of Chicago-based Studio Gang is one of the most anticipated guests to speak in Prague this June.
Alternative ownership, financing and regeneration models are driving the conversation about housing around the world.
Read more program insights for reSITE 2018 from Martin Barry and don't miss Early Bird Registration open until February 28.
What are the most pressing housing challenges cities face today?
Housing is a bit different than other types of real estate and other types of development because it's intensely personal and always so closely tied to our well-being and quality of life in the city. From Bordeaux to Belfast and Tokyo to Tel Aviv, cost of living has become one of the most pressing puzzles of our generation. As cities face increasing challenges to fund affordable housing solutions, we need to utilize new technologies and diverse partnerships to build more, build closer to city centers or transit hubs, and do it in a way that can open alternative ownership models that provide higher quality at affordable costs and a flexible structure. Increasing supply simply isn't decreasing cost. And, if cities want to remain competitive, they should look no further than ensuring that people can find a good and affordable place to live.
Housing: Intensely personal and always so closely tied to our well-being and quality of life in the city.
What are the new and expected trends related to housing and living in cities?
Student housing in Europe is trending and there is a need, with over 7mn international students in 2020, compared with 4.1mn in 2014. However, the market in cities like Amsterdam, Lisbon and London will soon be saturated with ultra-luxury student apartments, which are more like 5* hotels than the creaky flats that I lived in when I was in school. It's a great sector for us to pilot new types of housing alternatives, because younger people have different expectations about how they want to live in the future city. We can test new ideas of co-living and intergenerational living as part of this trend.
Why do we need to cooperate across disciplines to come to successful solutions?
Like many urban challenges, housing benefits from the confluence of thought in policy, design, finance, user experience and development. These disciplines alone cannot solve the problems at hand, especially at scale. Collaborations across disciplines are a microcosm of the urban milieu: a collection of often opposing needs and desires, but which work best in combination when following the right mission or big idea.
Collaborations across disciplines are a microcosm of the urban milieu: a collection of often opposing needs and desires, but which work best in combination when following the right mission or big idea.
What are your program tips for reSITE 2018?
Alternative ownership, financing and regeneration models are driving the conversation about housing around the world. We will expand upon each of those at reSITE this year. Jeanne Gang is a practicing architect and a MacArthur Fellow, whose work at a recent MoMA exhibition "Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream" will be a highlight. Her name made the hot list for this year's Pritzker Prize. Reinier de Graaf's first book "Four Walls and a Roof," will be revealed at the event, where we expect him to lambaste apathetic architectural ideals and explain that architecture will always be flawed as long as humans conceive, create and build it.
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