Common Treasures, Volume 2 Housing, Planning & Construction

About this book

This anthology, the second in the Common Treasures project, developed from a series of conversations between the architecture collective Assemble and the arts organisation Common Ground. It takes as its premise the idea that approaches to housing that are grounded in greater levels of community ownership, management and maintenance have the potential to empower communities, overcome the opposition to local development and create conditions in which skilled rural workers are part of stronger local networks of industry and agriculture. Housing built by, for and with the people who live in it makes characterful neighbourhoods that last well, are able to be maintained by their residents and facilitate investment in local labour, materials and skilled workmanship. The contributors to this anthology share their work to overcome the many obstacles to this way of working, and offer a vision which is grounded, imaginative and hopeful.

Contributors: Rebecca Smith, Rob Hopkins and Frances Northrop, Ruth Munns, Andrew Kirby, James Shorten, Loretta Bosence, Hana Loftus, Barbara Jones, Kim Squirrell, Ken Worpole, Tim Crabtree, and Summer Islam.

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Biography

Amica Dall, Giles Smith, and James Binning are founding members of Assemble, an organisation whose work involves social and design research, building projects and organisations. Sara Pereira is an independent writer, researcher, radio producer, literary translator and educator.

Common Ground is the environmental arts charity which connects people with place, nature and the seasons, with the idea of local distinctiveness at its heart. Its projects include Swift Town, Apple Day and Parish Maps.