Affordable Housing in the 1910s–1930s: New Narratives on Unbeaten Tracks?
When
Where
In this event, we are committed University’s principles for a safer space.
How can the affordable housing experiments of the 1910s–1930s be reread today?
This seminar presents the Planning Perspectives special issue “Affordable Housing in the 1910s–1930s: New Narratives on Unbeaten Tracks” (2025, vol. 40, no. 3, edited by Chiara Monterumisi, Aino Niskanen and Johan Mårtelius) and brings together its authors and invited discussants, Its aim is to reflect on the architectural, urban and cultural relevance of early twentieth-century housing projects nearly a century later.
The issue focuses on case studies that are often well established within their national historiographies but have seldom travelled across borders or been brought into comparative perspective. Its geographical scope moves across capital cities and other key urban centers, including Gothenburg, Helsinki, Leningrad, Trondheim, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Rome and Oslo.
The seminar reframes selected contributions through a set of shared critical lenses: traditional urban forms, greenery in residential areas, proto-rationalist approaches to housing construction, classical and vernacular references, and questions of demolition, conservation and building protection.
The final roundtable extends the discussion to the present-day legacy of these neighborhoods. It unpacks the idea of “new narratives” by asking how historical affordable housing is taught, interpreted, preserved and communicated today. And how its architectural, environmental and social values can inform current debates on density, refurbishment, urban livability and the future of twentieth-century housing heritage.