How Will We Live Together? A Comparative Analysis of Housing Cooperatives in Zurich and Barcelona

Abstract

This article provides a comparative analysis of two models of not-for-profit housing cooperatives with shared ownership and limited equity in Zurich and Barcelona as non-speculative and participatory processes that contribute to the accessibility and adequacy of an architectural project, which arose from a bottom-up debate on alternative housing models. The cases cited are characterised by high architectural quality and typological innovation and follow high energy standards and environmental sustainability criteria. The investigation consists of a theoretical study according to critically selected bibliographic sources and the analysis of the case studies with an action-research method. The aim of the research is to investigate the nature of the model, measure its effectiveness and hypothesise its applicability in other similar contexts.

Keywords

• Co-housing
• Housing cooperative
• Right to housing
• Participatory design
• Mediterranean cohousing