DETAIL 3.2025

From the editorial of issue DETAIL 3.2025

Mixed, Compact, Affordable, Liveable

Building plots are becoming scarce, housing costs are soaring, and apartments in new developments are shrinking. Properties long considered unsuitable or uneconomical for building are now being developed, and residential units are increasingly stacked – side by side and on top of each other – into ever-larger blocks. Standardisation and industrial prefabrication seem indespensible. The March issue presents out­standing housing projects in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brooklyn, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Vienna, showcas­ing innovative responses to urban challenges.

Today, unlike the car-oriented satellite towns of postwar modernism, there is a renewed commitment to the European pedestrian city. The model has shifted from suburban houses to urban living. This means mixed housing arrangements with communal spaces for social interaction, and high-quality, func­tional, affordable apartments within compact foot­prints – sometimes with integrated art studios. Ground-floor zones – hosting cultural centres, super­markets, coworking spaces, kindergartens, or chang­ing rooms for a nearby school’s sports field – foster neighbourhood cohesion, reduce travel distances, and advance car-free cities. Above all, communal spaces and integrated facilities make compact living more bearable – much like corner pubs or coffee houses served as informal living rooms in early 20th-century cities metropolises.