Samuel Gomá
Dwelling: Dutch Housing
The Nurturing City
Children play an essential role in the city, yet increasingly fewer children live there. Although many families would like to live and raise their children in the city, lack of suitable housing and high prices prevent them from doing so. Focusing on Amsterdam, this project explores how high-density housing can meet the needs of these families.
The design consists in the stacking of two co-housing communities, each of around 30 dwellings. While the dwellings are fully equipped, neighbours share common facilities within each community, including a communal kitchen and dining room as well as outdoor space. The dwellings are visually connected to these communal areas through generous and naturally lit circulation spaces. This living arrangement offers three main benefits: (1) it provides affordable housing, (2) it alleviates the burden of domestic work on parents and (3) it ensures a nurturing environment for children to grow up in.