Open Design in Practice

Architect and urban planner Frans van der Werf discloses in this book his own experiences as one of the pioneers of the worldwide Open Building approach. He designed Molenvliet, the first executed housing project that fully exemplifies the Open Building philosophy and methods. He shares his practice over the course of four decades in four Urban Tissue projects and seven Support Structures in the Netherlands and abroad. They still stand today as exemplars of how this approach can produce affordable user-centric environments of high quality that balance the common and the individual spheres of interest present in all housing projects.

This book is organized around the distinction of the three ‘Levels of Intervention’ in the built environment: Urban Tissue, Support and Infill, the fundamental insight introduced by John Habraken in the 1960s. After an extensive introduction, van der Werf goes into the design process of Urban Tissues, illustrated by his realized projects. Then he follows how he designed Supports and answers many questions of low-budget social housing projects, offering each occupant their own unique dwelling layout. Finally, he discusses the opportunities and challenges of the Infill level. He demonstrates open decision-making on the Levels of Support and Urban Tissue by the use of the ‘Pattern Language’ for communication and on the Infill Level for direct consultation with each user.

Frans concludes this book with personal reflections on the use of Open Design in daily practice and adds some additional resources that inspired him. This book is essential reading for students, architects, urbanists, developers and city authorities and also for groups of future inhabitants who want to consider Open Building for a truly sustainable environment.

Frans van der Werf (1937) is a Dutch architect and urban designer. He completed his studies at Delft University, the Netherlands, with the awarded project ‘Housing in a Linear City’, anticipating Open Building ideas. He co-designed the New Town of Evry, Paris. He has practiced Open Design in social housing and new city districts, and has designed care centers and a city center, since 1990, in bio-based organic architecture. His recent study includes ‘Transformation of Slums into Low-Rise High-Density Urban Districts’. He assisted N. John Habraken at SAR research and was a board member of SAR, Open Building and VIBA. He has lectured all over the world. (www.vdwerf.nl)