Space for living

About this book

The first book on the experimental Diagoon Houses from 1971 by Herman Hertzberger. This publication highlights the characteristics and associated qualities of the Diagoon Houses, which guarantee a form of 'ideal living'. The houses still set an example for a new form of housing, living culture and urban space. The publication shows the significance of the Diagoon Houses for twenty-first-century cultural history and the relevance of the underlying body of thought for today's housing assignment. By 2021, the houses will have been inhabited for fifty consecutive years by different generations of residents. Based on their experiences, it is possible to analyse what works and what doesn't, which physical and material living conditions have proved sustainable and which have not. The themes experimented with within this housing project are also surprisingly topical again, given the current housing challenge in the Netherlands of one million homes in the next ten years. Even now, the emphasis is on building quickly, in large quantities and cheaply, and monotony and uniformity are lurking. In that context, the Diagoon Houses are an instructive and inspiring experiment that provides concrete indications for living conditions that have proven to function satisfactorily. The publication focuses on a broad public interested in architecture, professionals in urban planning, architecture, interior design, transformation, urban development and area identity, and students within these fields