Contemporary living patterns in mass housing in Europe
ISCTE- University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal




This international workshop on sustainable and collaborative housing design is organized by the project “OIKONET: a global multidisciplinary network on housing research and learning”, co-financed by the European Union. The objective of the workshop will be to develop a cross-disciplinary dialogue aimed at finding answers to the meanings, ways and forms of contemporary living patterns of mass housing in Europe.

Two neighborhoods in Lisbon will be used as case studies: one which is representative of the formal mass housing - “Portela de SacavĂ©m” - and, another one -“Bairro da Liberdade” - which is a typical neighbourhood of informal mass housing.


The overall housing design process will be addressed, starting from participation and ending with digital fabrication. Design strategies will be based on: Co-creation methods (community participation, participatory design theory and techniques, generative design research); 


Contemporary living patterns (social housing; housing and quality of life; domestic scenario; new ways of life; new family structures; the changing of demographic trends and new housing needs; energy efficiency and construction materials); and Digital tools CAD / CAM (parametric design, modular systems and digital fabrication).

The ultimate goal is to develop an evolving housing design using prefabricated wood panels, to re-adapt pre-existing dwellings to contemporary living patterns and to produce new incrementally built homes as a response to today’s living conditions.