My Own Public Housing

My Own Public Housing

While having a rich tradition in social- and affordable housing, finding a suitable home in the Netherlands has become an impossible task for many. Rising housing prices, the shortage of social and affordable homes, a mismatch between supply and demand, and outdated financial models, make it increasingly difficult to find a fitting and affordable house - especially for singles or young couples who are looking for their first home in the City.

This context has not only reduced availability but has also affected the quality of new housing developments. Over time, newly built homes have become smaller, more standardised, and less flexible. Micro-apartments with cramped floor plans, temporary housing solutions, and inefficient, inflexible layouts have become mainstream in many Dutch cities. This shift is problematic not only for residents themselves, but also for the long-term quality and future resilience of newly developed neighbourhoods.

While financial models, land management policy and insufficient regulations play a significant role in this development, there is also a critical design dimension, particularly at the urban planning scale. Meticulously predefined building envelopes or disproportionately thick building blocks frequently proposed in urban plans limit spatial flexibility and make it increasingly difficult to create high-quality dwelling layouts. 

In this studio, developed together with Inara Nevskaya and Jurrien van Duijkeren of the Amsterdam-based firm Common Practice, we will explore the design of attractive, livable and future oriented  floor plans for public housing. Unlike the dominant design and planning paradigm, our focus will not be on the quantitative aspects of apartments, such as their size in square meters. Instead, we will emphasise the performative quality of a home and the need for complete, full-fledged apartments. Spaces that provide safety and comfort while also allowing for personal development and adaptability across different life stages and living patterns.

We’ll start from the floorplan instead of the building block, and work from the inside out. What does a good floorplan of a dwelling mean for the layout of a whole floor or a building, and what impact does this have on the urban design of a neighbourhood? We will depart from the participants’ own personal requirements and will speculate what they will need over time. Based on these insights we will start designing.

This course is open to designers, urban planners, developers and all other interested professionals, who want to explore alternative approaches to housing design and rethink how floor plans can better respond to real living needs.

Preliminary Programme

FRIDAY 06 MARCH 2026

10:00 - 10:30 Welcome and Introduction

10:30 - 12:00 Presentation by Beatriz Ramo on her research on apartment floorplans and START Ivry-sur- Seine, Grand Paris 

12:00 - 12:30 Short presentation by Inara Nevskaya and Jurrien van Duijkeren of Common Practice 

12:30 - 13:15 Lunch Break

13:15 - 14:00 Lecture by Wouter Vanstiphout and Michelle Provoost on Social Housing in Rotterdam from a historical perspective.

14:00 - 17:00 Excursion along different housing projects in Rotterdam.

SATURDAY 07 MARCH 2026

10:00 – 11:30 Introduction to the assignment by Inara Nevskaya and Jurrien van Duijkeren of Common Practice + conversation

11:30 – 14:00 Participants work individually / Lunch Break

14:00 - 14:30 Short presentations on first insights, introduction on part #2.

14:30 - 16:00 Participants work individually

16:00 – 17:00 Presentations and conversation of insights

FRIDAY 13 MARCH 2026
10:00 – 10:30 Introduction to the assignment part #3   

10:30 - 12:30 Participants work in teams

12:30 – 13:30  Lunch break

13:30 - 15:00 Participants work in teams

15:00 – 17:00 Presentation and conversation on findings.

Jurriën van Duijkeren
Jurriën van Duijkeren (1982) is co-founder of Common Practice - an architecture firm based in Amsterdam. With their research on The Fair Floor Plan, the office developed a set of twenty-two criteria addressing the longevity, inclusivity, and social sustainability of urban floor plans. Jurriën has worked on the design and execution of large housing ensembles, schools and universities in Belgium and The Netherlands. He has taught at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Amsterdam Technical School. 

Inara Nevskaya
Inara Nevskaya (1982) is co-founder of Common Practice - an architecture firm based in Amsterdam. With their research on The Fair Floor Plan, the office developed a set of twenty-two criteria addressing the longevity, inclusivity, and social sustainability of urban floor plans. She has worked on complex projects for various offices in the Netherlands with emphasis on transformations and re-use. In addition to practice, Inara teaches at TUDelft and is a part of the editorial board of Forum Magazine.

Michelle Provoost
Michelle Provoost is part of the Independent School for the City’s Deans Team, partner of Crimson Historians and Urbanists, and director of the International New Town Institute. She is an architectural historian specialised in urban planning history, postwar architecture and contemporary urban development.

Wouter Vanstiphout
Wouter Vanstiphout is part of the dean team of Independent School for the City and partner of Crimson Historians & Urbanists. He is an architectural historian and researcher who has written extensively on urbanism and spatial politics. From 2008 – 2016, he held the chair Design & Politics at the TU Delft and from 2012 to 2016, he was a member of the national advisory council on the environment and infrastructure.

Mike Emmerik
Mike Emmerik is the director of the Independent School for the City and partner at Crimson Historians & Urbanists. He is educated as an urban designer at the TU Delft and has over 10 years of experience on research and spatial planning projects at the intersection of urban development and policymaking. Mike is also affiliated with the Dutch Board of Government Advisors where he advises the national government and municipalities on spatial planning in the Netherlands.