Histories of Housing

This book bridges the gap between historical housing narratives and contemporary challenges in residential architecture, urban planning and sustainable development. By exploring diverse global case studies and employing methodologies such as syntactical analysis, comparative approaches and descriptive research, the book provides a unique interdisciplinary perspective. It highlights the cultural, social and design evolution of housing while addressing the pressing realities of modern urbanisation and sustainability. Divided into two distinct sections, the book examines the historical transformations of housing and their enduring influence on contemporary practices, offering actionable insights for practitioners. With chapters covering topics such as liveability, community engagement and the integration of heritage into urban planning, this collection serves architects, planners, academics and students. Offering a global and culturally rich perspective, the book challenges the notion that history has little to offer today's housing debates, delivering strategies and inspiration for future design and policy innovations.

Dr Ian W. Owen is an architect, lecturer and researcher specialising in architectural pedagogy, computational design and the history of postwar Welsh housing. He is the Program Director for the Master of Architecture (MArch) program at the University of Salford, UK, and a member of the Architectural Archives Advisory Panel for Wales (RSAW), advocating for the preservation and interpretation of Wales's architectural heritage. His recent publications include Diffusion Models and Architectural Education (2023), Safe Houses: Potentials and Limitations (2023) and Resilient Communities: A Novel Workflow (2022).Dr Silvio Carta is an architect, Chartered Building Engineer and Professor of Architecture at the University of Greenwich, UK. His research focuses on AI and machine learning in design, urban data science, and computational methods for the built environment. He serves as Section Editor for Computational Sustainability and Design and is a member of the European Council on Computing in Construction. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an ARB Accreditation Visitor. Silvio is the author of Big Data, Code and the Discrete City (2019) and Machine Learning and the City (2022).