Complexity: Dutch & American Housing Symposium

The symposium "Complexity: Dutch and American Housing" will explore the similarities and differences between the way housing is designed, developed, and constructed in the Netherlands and in the United States, as a way to create new practices. The dialogue is inspired by complex housing, a special form of housing developed in Northern Europe, provides an innovative model that includes:
 

• Moderate to high density
• Mixed income housing
• Dwellings for purchase and for rent
• Three or more housing types
• Mixed use
• Notable architectural design

 
Extending from the book Complex Housing: Designing for Density, (Routledge, forthcoming 2017) and accompanying the exhibition Dutch Complex Housing (September 2, 2017 - January 28, 2018), the symposium brings 12-13 presenters from the Netherlands, including architects, developers, residents, urban planners, and politicians to engage in discussions about best housing practices. The book and exhibition introduce the reader and exhibition participant to the background that has led to these projects, and then analyzes eight case studies. They end by presenting the implications of these projects for future design of housing, and the requisites for its replication elsewhere. The symposium supplements these more passive presentations of information by engaging conversations among a variety of people engaged in the creating of housing in the two countries that are directed toward application of the ideas in practice. These discussions, both informal (breaks, meals and receptions) and formal (sessions, tours and salon dinners) will be sparked by morning presentations of the Dutch designs and afternoon tours to exemplary local projects.
 
The conference will address such questions as how to build equitable housing that:

1. incorporates mixed-income households,
2. includes rental and purchase opportunities,
3. is financed in new ways, and
4. is architecturally innovative and diverse?