Program Overview

Program Overview

The Reworlding social housing estates program is a doctoral research project that aims to integrate social and ecological practices in conceiving, using, and maintaining collective space. The program is hosted by Hasselt University, Faculty of Architecture and Arts, research group ArcK - Spatial Capacity Building, in Belgium.

Program Details

Duration and Profile

The program has a duration of 36 + 12 months and is designed for a doctoral candidate with a background in Design/Architecture.

Research Objectives

The main question of this PhD project is how to capitalize on the ecological potential of social housing estates to trigger social transition processes. The specific objectives are:

• Perform a participatory mapping of actors and relations involved in the conception, use, and maintenance of collective spaces in social housing estates in selected case studies.
• Document the social and ecological practices of key actors (residents, service providers, and authorities) and the conflicts among them.
• Propose design strategies and scenarios to reimagine collective space practices in a caring and careful way.
• Define pathways for implementing scenarios and outline the conflicts and opportunities that these may introduce.

Expected Results

The expected results of the program include:

• Participatory mapping and ethnographic research of actors involved in the socio-ecological transition of collective space in social housing.
• Participatory atlas of spatial typologies, practices, and infrastructures used by key actors involved in the case studies.
• Participatory redesign of strategies and scenarios for the collective space in social housing transition towards 2050.

Secondments

The program includes planned secondments to:

• Architecture Workroom Brussels, with Joachim Declerck, to learn about and engage with actors in socio-ecological transition in social housing.
• University of Limerick, with Mark Marshall, to learn and gain hands-on experience in historic buildings as energy prosumers.