Last year’s granting of the Mies van der Rohe Award to a social housing refurbishment project brought into the spotlight a topic of interest for many European cities: the moral and physical rehabilitation of post-war housing blocks.
The EU Mies Award 2019 was assigned to the restoration of three social housing blocks in Bordeaux, by Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, Frédéric Druot, and Christophe Hutin Architecture. It is worth mentioning that this was the second time in a row when the award went to a collective housing renovation project. In 2017, the prize was awarded to NL Architects, and XVW Architectuur for their Kleiburg revamp scheme. This goes to show an increasing interest in rehabilitating the post-war housing stock, but a consensus on the topic among professionals and decision-makers hasn’t been reached yet.
In the 60s and 70s, numerous large scale collective housing estates were built throughout European cities, to rapidly solve the stringent need for housing after the war. These housing developments proved to have different flaws and have amassed significant criticism in recent years, being threatened with demolition all across Europe (see ArchDaily’s coverage of the demise of Robin Hood Gardens).
.jpg?1584645782 "The Rehabilitation of Post-War Housing Blocks in 7 Projects")
