FACADES OF GLASGOW. THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE HOUSING COMMONS

Winter 2025/26

In contemporary housing design, floor plans are often rigidly constrained by regulations and real estate parameters, resulting in standardised apartment types. By contrast, facades remain one of the last domains for architectural expression. Here, architects can experiment with materials, patterns, and geometries, as well as the size, type, and arrangement of windows – or even ornamental features.This studio will focus on a mid-sized collective housing project in Glasgow (Scotland), developed in collaboration with a local Housing Association (a local organisation providing for affordable housing), and supported by local architects and scholars. The first part of the semester will address the typological organisation of the building, including questions of accessibility, circulation, types, and collective facilities. The second part will concentrate on the design of the building’s elevations, exploring the facade as an expressive, three-dimensional space. Students will investigate how the facade can reflect both the collective identity of the building and its community, its relationship to the city and its history, and the individual character of each household.The studio ultimately aims to define an appropriate architectural expression for a housing project that sits between private and public domains—an example of housing commons.

We will work across scales and with physical models.