DASH 08 - Building Together: The Architecture of Collective Private Commissions

Are collective commissions the answer for the housing market?

Several municipal governments in the Netherlands are looking closely at collective private building commissions. By stimulating private individuals to form commissioning collectives, cities like Almere and Amsterdam hope to relaunch the jammed housing market. In this they are taking a step towards what has been routine in Germany for many years under the name Baugruppen. DASH Building Together examines, in several essays and interviews, the opportunities collective private commissions present for housing design.

Collective commissions are not a new phenomenon in The Netherlands. While in the twentieth century these were mainly idealistic, small-scale initiatives like communes, today motivations are also economic. DASH Building Together presents contemporary and historic examples of projects developed under collective commissions, in the Netherlands and beyond. An interesting question is whether direct contact between users and architects leads to innovative architecture and new building and dwelling types.