Overhoused People / Underused Houses? Towards a Sustainable Reassembling of the Post War Housing Stock in Suburban Flanders, Belgium (Overbehuisde mensen / Onderbezette woningen? Naar een duurzame transformatie van de naoorlogse woningvoorraad in suburbaan Vla

From an ecological perspective the available housing in Flanders is farfrom satisfactory, because of the abundance of large, underused dwellings. These large homes, which are often situated in low density neighbourhoods, are at odds with a policy of sustainability, since the latter implies the need to minimize energy consumption and green gases while largehomes in sprawled neighbourhoods generate high direct (heating) and indirect (transport) energy consumption. To simply demolish this housing stock however doesn#t seem a realist option given the emotional ties of inhabitants to their dwellings. This proposal aims at a significant and fundamental contribution to the understanding of this complex situation, which is a prerequisite for future solutions. The proposal consists of three sections. A first, geographical section will generate a more preciseand complex mapping of the phenomenon: which houses exactly are#large and underused#? Where are they located? Who are the inhabitants? What is the real estate value and what are the prospects in this respect? A second section comprises qualitative research regarding inhabitation experiences and expectations, relying upon a fieldwork methodology with home visits and in-depth interviews, resulting in an architectural analysis of the plans and an ethnographic analysis of the discourses of the inhabitants. A third section investigates through typological and design research possible strategies to adapt these dwellings to future conditions.

Trefwoorden:Large dwellings, Flanders

Project type:PhD project