Building blocks to a new mass housing

‘Block City’ at Prague’s Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, presents the good, bad and ugly sides of mass housing (and the potentially beautiful)

Arts & Leisure
Guest Writer | 07.02.2012
VIP
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that support Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Block City, now underway at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, presents Dutch architect Bart Goldhoorn's concept for future mass housing
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks, - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that supports Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Dutch Architect Bart Goldhoorn looked at various fields of production, including shoes, which like his Block City concept introduced a standard that still allows for diversity in design
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. In this author's eyes, some of the executions failed to take the mass out of mass housing
Paradoxically, one of the consequences of the former Soviet Union's transformation from communism to capitalism was the introduction of borders. To protect their possessions, people placed gratings on their windows (these were imported from Russia for the exhibition)
EDDEA from Spain was the winner of the closed portion of the A101 Block City competition, which was designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks. Four international architects were asked to design a master plan for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow with the requirement that 80% of the blocks be standard sizes
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that support Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Block City, now underway at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, presents Dutch architect Bart Goldhoorn's concept for future mass housing
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks, - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that supports Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Dutch Architect Bart Goldhoorn looked at various fields of production, including shoes, which like his Block City concept introduced a standard that still allows for diversity in design
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. In this author's eyes, some of the executions failed to take the mass out of mass housing
Paradoxically, one of the consequences of the former Soviet Union's transformation from communism to capitalism was the introduction of borders. To protect their possessions, people placed gratings on their windows (these were imported from Russia for the exhibition)
EDDEA from Spain was the winner of the closed portion of the A101 Block City competition, which was designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks. Four international architects were asked to design a master plan for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow with the requirement that 80% of the blocks be standard sizes
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that support Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Block City, now underway at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, presents Dutch architect Bart Goldhoorn's concept for future mass housing
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks, - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that supports Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Dutch Architect Bart Goldhoorn looked at various fields of production, including shoes, which like his Block City concept introduced a standard that still allows for diversity in design
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. In this author's eyes, some of the executions failed to take the mass out of mass housing
Paradoxically, one of the consequences of the former Soviet Union's transformation from communism to capitalism was the introduction of borders. To protect their possessions, people placed gratings on their windows (these were imported from Russia for the exhibition)
EDDEA from Spain was the winner of the closed portion of the A101 Block City competition, which was designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks. Four international architects were asked to design a master plan for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow with the requirement that 80% of the blocks be standard sizes
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that support Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Block City, now underway at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, presents Dutch architect Bart Goldhoorn's concept for future mass housing
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks, - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that supports Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Dutch Architect Bart Goldhoorn looked at various fields of production, including shoes, which like his Block City concept introduced a standard that still allows for diversity in design
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. In this author's eyes, some of the executions failed to take the mass out of mass housing
Paradoxically, one of the consequences of the former Soviet Union's transformation from communism to capitalism was the introduction of borders. To protect their possessions, people placed gratings on their windows (these were imported from Russia for the exhibition)
EDDEA from Spain was the winner of the closed portion of the A101 Block City competition, which was designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks. Four international architects were asked to design a master plan for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow with the requirement that 80% of the blocks be standard sizes
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that support Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Block City, now underway at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, presents Dutch architect Bart Goldhoorn's concept for future mass housing
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks, - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that supports Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Dutch Architect Bart Goldhoorn looked at various fields of production, including shoes, which like his Block City concept introduced a standard that still allows for diversity in design
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. In this author's eyes, some of the executions failed to take the mass out of mass housing
Paradoxically, one of the consequences of the former Soviet Union's transformation from communism to capitalism was the introduction of borders. To protect their possessions, people placed gratings on their windows (these were imported from Russia for the exhibition)
EDDEA from Spain was the winner of the closed portion of the A101 Block City competition, which was designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks. Four international architects were asked to design a master plan for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow with the requirement that 80% of the blocks be standard sizes
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that support Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Block City, now underway at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, presents Dutch architect Bart Goldhoorn's concept for future mass housing
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks, - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that supports Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Dutch Architect Bart Goldhoorn looked at various fields of production, including shoes, which like his Block City concept introduced a standard that still allows for diversity in design
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. In this author's eyes, some of the executions failed to take the mass out of mass housing
Paradoxically, one of the consequences of the former Soviet Union's transformation from communism to capitalism was the introduction of borders. To protect their possessions, people placed gratings on their windows (these were imported from Russia for the exhibition)
EDDEA from Spain was the winner of the closed portion of the A101 Block City competition, which was designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks. Four international architects were asked to design a master plan for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow with the requirement that 80% of the blocks be standard sizes
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that support Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Block City, now underway at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, presents Dutch architect Bart Goldhoorn's concept for future mass housing
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks, - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. This is one amongst a number of executions that supports Goldhoorn's notion that a standard size does not mean standard architecture
Dutch Architect Bart Goldhoorn looked at various fields of production, including shoes, which like his Block City concept introduced a standard that still allows for diversity in design
Designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks - an open competition invited architects from around the world to design an urban block for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow. In this author's eyes, some of the executions failed to take the mass out of mass housing
Paradoxically, one of the consequences of the former Soviet Union's transformation from communism to capitalism was the introduction of borders. To protect their possessions, people placed gratings on their windows (these were imported from Russia for the exhibition)
EDDEA from Spain was the winner of the closed portion of the A101 Block City competition, which was designed to test the Block City concept - the introduction of standard sizes for urban blocks. Four international architects were asked to design a master plan for a new city of 40,000 inhabitants south of Moscow with the requirement that 80% of the blocks be standard sizes

Does mass housing have the potential to be beautiful? After more than 16 years of research, Dutch architect Bart Goldhoorn has proposed a new concept for mass housing that incorporates the advantages of large-scale production but also allows for design diversity. Called Block City, his concept is the name of an exhibition now on at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague, which looks at past and present mass housing, introduces his concept and presents the results of a competition designed to test it — centered on the design of a new housing development south of Moscow.

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