Inhabiting the present: The house, the collective dwelling and the city

Abstract

Residential architecture is the first and most difficult way of making architecture. Apart from being one of the most urgent needs in people's lives, it also represents one of the most legitimate aspirations of human beings, whatever their social condition. Housing is the greatest exponent of architecture; it means working with human beings and their needs. The nature of our dwelling, regardless of the type of culture and time period, conveys an undistorted vision of the human condition. In that sense, housing has always shaped the quality of human life. A good dwelling is one in which we can live well. Its essential quality is that of being livable. Since domestic dwelling cohabits mainly with private life, the value of housing lies primarily in its capacity to convey the feeling of shelter / protection and of a discrete relationship between the 'interior' spaces themselves; its architectural value lies in the capacity that the spaces themselves have to express, through their form, this relationship. The house problematic is wide and complex, it requires technical, artistic and functional knowledge, and a clear vision of the new values and social needs of our time - new means to improve people's lives. The present document aims to clarify the following concepts and the gradual relationship between them - the house, the collective dwelling and the city. To this end, a first approach will be made to the relationship between the concept of house, home and the inhabitant, and subsequently, a progressive passage to collective living and its interaction with the city.