ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that residential buildings should not propose housing units founded on principles of generalizations for universal design, as Christian Schittich and others have proposed. Instead, housing design and construction should be plural, by accommodating different domestic cultures and household lifestyles. This is precisely what Julia Robinson proposed based on eight in-depth case studies of complex residential buildings in the Netherlands. She presented generic design and planning guidelines that recognize diversity of housing units, mixing different functional and social uses, understanding the embeddedness of housing units and residential buildings in urban neighbourhoods, and providing transitions between public, collective and private spaces. The chapter considers alternative contributions to the provision of housing stemming from a common practice called self-build which has a history as long as human habitation. It also argues that self-build commonly was interpreted as ‘architecture without architects’.
