Expansive housing: From house to village

Marta Bugés in conversation with Ricardo Devesa, Tomoko Sakamoto i David Lorente

Marta Bugés: Why did you decide to publish a book about cooperative housing? And why right-to-use cohousing in Barcelona?

Ricardo Devesa [RD] One of the fundamental purposes of architecture is the care of the people who inhabit it, especially in residential architecture. The spatial design disciplines, however, should also aspire to improving human relationships. To making urban environments more accessible and liveable, in an inclusive and sustainable way. This book was born from the interest in looking at recent cohousing experiences as an alternative model of community living, with a clear benefit for the individual but also for the community of residents and, beyond that, for the surrounding neighbourhood and for the city as a whole.

Tomoko Sakamoto [TS] Barcelona is an international benchmark for architecture, urban planning and design, precisely because of the constant innovation, experimentation and reflection that focuses on the city. Along those lines, the model of right-to-use cooperative housing, as we learn in the text contributed by the Barcelona City Council Housing Department, began as a pilot project in 2014. A framework agreement, called the ESAL agreement, was eventually signed in 2020 with the most significant entities in the sector of social and cooperative housing in order to prevent housing speculation and promote a new way of living in community, based on participation and solidarity.

Where are we now in the implementation of that model? How has it become an alternative to social housing?

David Lorente [DL] Today, more than 150 families are living within this kind of cooperative framework on municipal land in Barcelona. There aren’t enough available units, true, but they do exist, and they offer a more supportive, sustainable and humane housing alternative. By 2025, the estimate is that there will be 535 units. Hopefully, in just a few years, many more families will be able to participate in this non-profit model of access to housing: as a right and not as a commodity. Right-to-use cooperative housing will help cities improve in terms of solidarity, social justice, and sustainability.

How did you structure the book, and how did you gather the cohousing experiences in Barcelona?

RD The structure of the book centers the focus of attention on architecture as a tool for formalizing a model of living and dwelling in community, but it also looks at how participation plays a role in the processes of the design and maintenance of architecture. That’s why we’ve given a voice to all the agents who are involved in the cohousing model: members of the cooperatives, architects, experts in energy and environmental