Housing Cooperatives: Celebrating Co-Owning, Co-Living, and Co-Creating

The International Day of Cooperatives is a celebration of the cooperative movement, which takes place annually on the first Saturday of July. In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly established it a national day, celebrating the cooperative movement worldwide with yearly themes. The cooperative movement is an association focused on achieving common goals and addressing collective communal needs. Cooperatives believe in community development at their core, prioritizing people and supporting local communities to improve their well-being. Moreover, the co-living models that have been adapted from it have become an enormous success over the past few decades, providing a form of cost-effective social housing. The cooperative structure redefines how people live, work, play, and collaborate. This year's theme is “Cooperatives: Partners for accelerated sustainable development.”

Karoline Goldhofer Daycare Centre / heilergeiger architekten und stadtplaner BDA

The concept for the daycare centre originates from the Reggio pedagogy applied in it, which was consciously chosen by the non-profit Alois Goldhofer Foundation. In this pedagogy reusing and taking care of the old is essential. Another elementary aspect is that the strengths of the existing building are used rather than its weaknesses. For this, the stock of the old house is activated.

Jätkäsaari Comprehensive School / AOR Architects

Based on an open architecture competition, Jätkäsaari comprehensive school of 800 pupils in Helsinki is the latest evolution of contemporary Finnish schools and designed in accordance with Finland's new national curriculum, which emphasizes e.g. phenomenon-based and multidisciplinary learning.

Paris XII Apartments / MARS Architectes

The project is located in the twelfth district of Paris, completed in October 2020 for the real estate company GECINA, enclosed at the heart of a block, surrounded by an apartment complex built in the 1970s.

Grafton Architects' Kingston University Town House and Lacol's La Borda Win the 2022 EU Mies Award

The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced that Kingston University Town House by Grafton Architects and La Borda cooperative housing by Lacol are the recipients of the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award. Winner of the Architecture Category, Kingston University Town House was awarded for its "remarkable environmental quality that creates an excellent atmosphere for studying, gathering, dancing and being together". The 2022 Emerging Architecture Prize was given to La Borda cooperative housing by Lacol in Barcelona, commended for its "co-ownership and co-management of shared resources and capacities".

7 Finalists Announced for the EU Mies Award 2022

The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced the 7 finalists that will compete for the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary ArchitectureMies van der Rohe Award. The finalists include 5 projects in the Architecture category and 2 in the Emerging Architecture category, all of which "encourage and become models and references for local city policies". The winners will be announced in April 2022 and the Award ceremony will take place in May 2022.

40 Shortlisted Projects Announced for the EU Mies Award 2022

The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced the 40 shortlisted works that will compete for the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award. The shortlist featured projects built across 18 different European countries, with Spain, Austria, and France topping the list with 5 entries each. The winners will be announced in April 2022 and the Award ceremony will take place in May 2022.

Intervention at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion Reflects on the Rehabilitation of Large-scale Housing Blocks

The Mies van der Rohe foundation presents “Never Demolish” a temporary intervention by curators Ilka and Andreas Ruby that explores the “Transformation of 530 dwellings in the Grand Parc Bordeaux” project by the Pritzker laureates Lacaton & Vassal architects, Frédéric Druot Architecture, and Christophe Hutin Architecture. Running until December 16th, the pavilion is transformed into a domestic space that allows visitors to "deepen the debate on housing and the rehabilitation model of the large-scale blocks of the 60s and 70s".

Warehouse Transformation / Thomas Raynaud + Paul Devarrieux

Instead of demolishing and rebuilding, the choice is made to keep the warehouse in a matter of economy of means and unfold the intrinsic qualities of this ordinary construction. By subtraction and addition, few acts of alterations extend its capacity and flexibility of uses.

The 2022 Edition of the EU Mies van der Rohe Award Reveals Final List of Works Competing

The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe have announced the second list of 85 works competing for the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary ArchitectureMies van der Rohe Award. Joining the batch of first nominations announced in February 2021, the full list comprises now of 532 competing works for the EU Mies Award 2022. The shortlist of 40 will be announced in January 2022, the winners in April 2022, and the Award ceremony will take place in May 2022.

Dermavision Clinic / Vlad Sebastian Rusu Architecture Office

The site's location is on the outer strip of the city's intra muros area of Cluj, an area best described as an ​​architectural mélange of small historical houses with gardens and new and more expansive hotel and educational complexes. The new medical center occupies a small corner plot, between two streets with different hierarchies, and is replacing an existing ground floor house. At its eastern limit, hidden behind the gardens and houses, waves the course of the Water Mill’s Canal, designed since the 16th century to supply the water mills in the city. Unfortunately, on our plot it was covered to facilitate the extension of the annexes of the initially existing house, thus becoming invisible to passers-by on the secondary street.

Vainiai Palace Rehabilitation Senatorių Pasažas / DO ARCHITECTS

Headline. The Pocej Palace – a 400-year-old forgotten heritage object in the centre of Vilnius has opened to the public again. A distinctive project feature is the harmony of professional heritage principles and modern architecture raised above formal requirements – its historical image was all revealed while sensitively adapting the complex for a new function.

LAKESIDE Hotel, SPA & Conference / Arbër Shala Architects

Site analysis and landscape, where the surrounding mountains stand out, the Drini i Bardhë river with the artificial Lake of Vërmicë and the dense greenery, were the key elements in the sketches, where overlapping and interweaving of the three brings us the architectural composition and shaping of the concept which was conceived and brought to life. The building itself is closely connected to the surroundings through the usual language of architecture, creating a common dialogue between the landscape and the building, a perfect symbiosis of both, including the surroundings within the building itself which flow through the central atrium void.

Multifunctional Sports Hall / Atelier dmb

The building is a multifunctional sports hall built as a development project of the UTE Sports Complex. At the beginning of the design process, already taking part in the programming, our goal was, on the one hand, to make as a universal a spatial structure for the building as possible – so that it could accommodate various events. On the other hand, we aimed at creating a built environment with a strong atmosphere worthy of the past of the prestigious club. The hall was built in the middle of the sports complex, where no morphological associations were provided by the site. As a result of this situation, the building was formed along the architectural logic evolving from its own spatial structure. Thus, a tectonic mass composition was created that dissolves the long-span-dominated spatial scale through its articulation.

Helsinki Biennial Pavilion / Verstas Architects

The Helsinki Biennial Pavilion, located at the South Harbour of Helsinki, serves as the entry point to the Helsinki Biennial art festival that is held on the nearby Vallisaari island. The ferry to Vallisaari departs from a pier adjoining the pavilion. Accessible all year round, the pavilion provides a public open-air urban living room space where one can pause and enjoy the presence of the sea in the heart of the city.

MuMA Hut / WeWilder

Muma Hut is a “tiny house” built through voluntary efforts in an orchard, in the Old Village of Armenis in Romania, inviting guests who want to experience nature both outside and inside the cottage with an audacious window onto the landscape.

Library of the School of Philosophy / Antonis Noukakis & Partners + Theano Fotiou Architects

The Library is located on an inclined landscape at the foot of Mount Hymettus. Its dynamic crawling form extends linearly and functions as a spatial element between the School of Philosophy and the School of Theological Studies. It sits at a lower level than its surroundings, highlighting its roof, which contributes to the building’s symbolism.