The Transience of Society

Abstract

The post-war reconstruction period in the Netherlands marked a significant time for the housing industry, where demand and necessity resulted in ground-breaking innovations, and construction technologies advanced by leaps and bounds. The high-rise typology proved essential in tackling the housing shortage owing to the fast and affordable system-construction using abundantly available concrete. While these innovations enabled the creation of a large number of houses, solving the housing crisis temporarily, it was soon observed that the living conditions of these neighbourhoods were far from ideal. The creation of standardised units and floor plans afforded developers the ease of vertically stacking units to create a large number of dwellings. However the principal flaw in this planning strategy was the lack of consideration of how households function in reality.

As the government of the Netherlands plans to build up to a million new homes by 2030, it becomes pertinent to ask the question, will they be suitable homes? The large-scale construction and demolition that is required to achieve this promise will require an immensely large stock of raw material and natural resources. So how can these homes be made different from the ones that already exist? How will they mitigate the problems that plague the widespread post-war neighbourhoods of the country?

This project examines the post war neighbourhood of Westwijk, Vlaardingen and the spatial as well as social problems that it faced soon after its construction. To be able to densify such neighbourhoods in the future, a vastly different strategy needs to be adopted, to make not only the new homes as a safe, happy and inclusive environment for all its residents, but also to alleviate the condition of the surrounding neighbourhood and its residents.

Drawing inspiration from traditional housing topologies, and some greatly successful projects by architects such as Aldo Van Eyck, Herman Hertzberger and Charles Correa, transience emerges as a key aspect in their success. It exists not only in an absolute form such as ‘in-between’ spaces, but also as a concept of growth. When houses are designed to accommodate change, to encourage communal interaction, while allowing the freedom to draw one’s own boundaries, it leads to the creation of a 'society'. The formation of such a society is what is crucial to the upkeep of a neighbourhood, camaraderie amongst neighbours and the possibility of multiple generations being able to benefit from their family home.