Juris Platacis

A fast growing housing model – property guardians – converts vacant buildings into homes and offers one of the lowest rents in London. However, people living in these buildings are not considered tenants. Their private and social lives are restricted, e.g., one’s licence would be terminated if a managing company would discover that this person has had an overnight visitor.

My project provides an alternative to property guardian scheme. Not only addressing legal and technical issues, but also exploring what an architecture of collective living might be.

By analysing municipal buildings currently used by property guardian companies, I am proposing a set of design tools that can deployed in wide variety of properties. The main intervention is cell-like living unit which is situated in open plan spaces. The surrounding area is freely occupied by shared working facilities. Bathrooms and kitchens are collectively managed. Some buildings (depending on their layout) will be used to organize events for the local community.