Housing for the millions

"'Home' represents a fundamental value in a person's life. Although many factors pertaining to his housing situation are beyond the occupant's control, he still attempts to create his own domestic domain, the finite center of a world in which he is free to be himself. As long ago as 1961, in his book 'Supports : An alternative to mass housing', John Habraken suggested a completely different approach to mass housing in the Netherlands. In an effort to offer the occupant of a mass-produced dwelling the opportunity to make a personal statement, he introduced the concept of a separation of support and infill. Habraken sees the support structure as the aspect of housing production that represents communal responsibility, and the infill as the aspect that stands for individual control. He formulated the 'support and infill' concept to introduce variation and personal authority into millions of dwellings. This alternative was to be put into practice by the Foundation for Architects' Research (SAR), which made Habraken its first director. The ambition of the SAR - to radically change the production methods of mass housing - led to concepts and rules of play that had repercussions on the entire building cycle, from architectural design to product development. All the achievements, disappointments, successes, and failures involved in the realization of an alternative to traditional housing construction can be discovered in this book. This is the first time that the intellectual heritage of the SAR has been brought together in book form and considered within a broader international perspective"--Bookjacket.