CALL FOR ABSTRACTS, JOELHO 17, “Co-Operative Housing”
EDITORS
João Mendes Ribeiro, Nuno Correia, Nuno Travasso
In the next issue of JOELHO we will address topics related with contemporary forms of housing. We use the expression “Co-Operative” both in the sense of alternative ways of having access to a house, and in the sense of alternative ways of inhabiting that house.
For the former, cooperatives are an excellent example, of course, but it is not the only one. We are also interested in exploring different kinds of experiments, many of them bottom-up approaches, when a group of citizens take the initiative and organizes itself spontaneously to solve a problem that affects them all. Or to analyse good practices of housing policies that have proven successful in the fight against speculative markets. Whether those policies assume the form of governmental or local measures.
For alternative ways of inhabiting a house we think immediately about many recent experiments based on sharing some spaces of a house, where one can perform many daily activities that do not demand so much privacy. A currently popular and growing operating model usually referred to as “Collaborative Living”.
Mostly since the beginning of 21st century, we have been facing a growing debate related with these collaborative forms of housing, and also an important architectural research about the concepts of flexibility and adaptability. Many Architects and offices choose to address their design solutions in a way that the use of the spaces in a house can be more versatile than a conventional answer to just a specific request.
A series of sociological changes challenge Architects to find innovative solutions, and these key-concepts of collaboration and adaptability are often very effective. Young people living alone with no need for a very large house, and no time for properly taking care of it. Elderly people, also living alone in many cases, that not only do not need a very large house, but also can find in that sharing model some support at certain times of the day. People of all ages, living in a city just for a period of time, who need the ability to install quickly and repack everything again.
Furthermore, there are also important concerns related to environmental sustainability and to the growing process of landscape artificialization. Many of the solutions widely acknowledged effective to improve environmental sustainability also involves the concepts of flexibility and adaptability, and they are often associated with the use of construction systems that can be easily replaced, and easily reused or recycled.
Directly related with that need for environmental sustainability is the climatization of the houses, the necessary energy spent to heat and cool them. The design of the building should take in consideration every climatic benefits of solar exposure and natural ventilation, but there is also a demand for a balanced dimension of spaces. As larger are the houses, as higher are the costs with climatization.
In addition, we are currently witnessing a widespread tendency to recover various forms of integrating nature into inhabited spaces. Whether they are private or urban spaces. Block interiors become gardens. Courtyards, rooftops, public spaces become greener. Urban green corridors are being planted to connect old and new parks of the cities. There is an apparent growing demand from citizens to recover contact with nature and an ancient sense of time that otherwise seemed difficult to accomplish, living in a city.
Another important topic related with environmental sustainability, but also with the preservation of a cultural identity is the adaptive reuse of pre-existing buildings. In many cases, relatively recent buildings. We are not just rehabilitating historic heritage, we are now dealing with the fact that many of the buildings constructed during all the 20th century are no longer able to fulfil their original purpose. To address the shortage of houses in contemporary European cities, and to address that fast shift in the use of recent buildings, it is almost inevitable to consider their adaptive reuse for housing.
For JOELHO 17, we welcome articles that can help us to framework a series of experiments carried out mostly since the beginning of the 21st century. Although, the main focus of this publication may be European context, we are very interested in learning more about many different practices that have been tested worldwide.
Since the housing problem we are facing today is deeply rooted in the cultural developments occurred in the 20th century, and many of the answers we are reaching have also important roots in the experiments and debate started during that period, researches related with the historic origins of those crucial subjects can also be very relevant to understand the recent developments of these contemporary forms of housing. Case studies related with evolutionary housing, sharing of collective spaces, participative processes of design, etc.
We are aware of a series of research projects developed recently related to the housing problem, and the topics we intend to address in the next edition of JOELHO. We hope that this publication will spark the interest of researchers involved in those projects, and that they will be willing to share their knowledge with us.
CALENDAR
Call for abstracts opening – 14 May 2025
Deadline for abstract submission – 28th July, 2025
Notification of acceptance for publication – 29th September, 2025
Deadline for full paper submission – 5th January, 2026
Notification of peer review report – 16th February, 2026
Final full paper submission – 16th March, 2026
Launch – Summer 2026
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Authors need to register prior to submitting (https://impactum-journals.uc.pt/joelho). If already registered, simply log in submit an abstract (up to 500) words and a brief CV (100 words).
We draw your attention to the fact that the information for authors made available in the digital platform “Impactum-Journals” refers mainly to the full paper submission.
For any question related with this issue of JOELHO, contact the editors to this e-mail address –
nunocorreia@uc.pt
