Dutch Dwellings: The Architecture of Housing

Dick van Gameren, a partner with the renowned Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo, has been engaging in housing design for the past 25 years as part of his work as designing architect as well as his research and teaching at TU Delft's Global Housing Study Center. In this book, he presents some 40 of his own projects in this field through concise texts and photographs with explanatory captions as well as through plans and drawings. They're grouped to illustrate seven specific aspects of housing design: Streets and Squares, Courtyards and Patios, Gardens, Halls, the Fireplace, Walls, and Roofs. Together they constitute a multi-faceted catalogue of housing typologies. In four supplementing essays, van Gameren explores evolutions in residential architecture in the Netherlands. He places his own concepts in context of these developments and expands on what he considers the key factors of good housing design. A particular focus he puts on affordable housing, a pressing issue in so many countries and metropolitan areas around the world. Dutch Dwellings is an inspiring read for anyone involved in housing design today.