In continuation of the La Friche Josaphat masterplan, and after studying the ongoing reception crisis of refugees in Brussels, I proposed a social housing project in the heart of the masterplan, with shared amenities and with statutory conditions for selecting a diverse group of residents, of which at least a certain percentage are newcomers – to guarantee them sustainable access to qualitative, adequate and affordable housing.
The choice to formulate a housing program not exclusively for newcomers results from a workshop I organized with newcomers in Rotterdam. In this workshop I learned that it was their explicit wish to live in mixed communities; being surrounded with those speaking their mother tongue, would, after all, impede their efforts to throwing down their roots and making a new start in a new country.
Thorough research into different forms of co-housing and visits to housing cooperatives in Geneva illuminated the practicalities of living together as neighbours. Arie Lengkeek and Peter Kuenzli, for example, questioned the durability of the social, financial and management structures within the current housing market and pose new (or in fact very old) ways of ‘living together’ along the lines of the commons; the idea that resources belong to, and affect communities.
But how do we assure sustainable access to housing, for example, when a family is expanding and in need for more space? Some cooperative housing projects have included a precondition in their tenancy agreements, that you’re obliged to move to a smaller apartment in the block, once a household gets smaller, for example when children are leaving the house.
Additionally, modular apartments allow for easy combining or splitting of apartments. Both these principles tackle the issue of ‘scheefwonen’ as well as guaranteeing a long term access to a home, in a familiar place, in the same neighbourhood, in the same city.
As a sort of ultimate synergy of social integration, stress relief (numerous studies show how many refugees suffer from Stress, Restlessness, and Traumatic Experiences after fleeing their home) and protection La Friche’s ecology, I’d imagined the newcomers, together with locals, could provide for the natural stewardship of La Friche.
