Housing Design: a manual - Hardcover

As cities expand and populations swell, the task of reimagining and constructing domestic spaces only increases in its urgency. First published in Dutch in 2008, and now available in an expanded English edition that includes 20 new projects, Housing Design: A Manual is a critically acclaimed guidebook to the current state of housing design, from stacked residential structures to villas. Authored by the architectural theorist Bernard Leupen and the editor and architect Harald Mooij, it combines text, blueprints and photographs for individual buildings to provide a clear analysis of the basic organization of private dwelling space in the twenty-first century--from construction materials to the relation of the building to the larger urban environment. Supporting structure, scenography and service functions are all dealt with in turn; the manual pays considerable attention to the relationship between the domestic floor plan, space and how it is experienced. Already a classic, indispensable reference for students, lecturers and professionals in the field of residential construction, Housing Design ranges from large-scale tabula rasa plans to the infill of a gap in an urban elevation, offering the tools necessary to analyze and develop all facets of its subject.

This manual sheds light on every aspect of designing housing. The organization of the living space and the residential building is dealt with systematically, from the breadth, depth, stacking, access to dwellings and the urban ensemble. This revised edition has been expanded with 20 new exemplary projects, boasts an improved structure and has been enriched with a new chapter about the process of design.
Housing Design is primarily focused on residential construction in larger entities, such as stacked developments. Because of its wide-ranging approach to the theme, this manual is also useful when designing in low densities and even for the design of an individual house or villa. It provides the tools necessary to analyse the context of residential construction, ranging from large-scale tabula rasa plans to the infill of a gap in an urban elevation.
With regard to the tectonics of residential construction, the supporting structure, the envelope, the scenography and the service elements are dealt with in turn, in each case considering the consequences of the choice of material and form for the space and the living experience. The manual pays considerable attention to the relationship between the domestic floor plan, space and how it is experienced.