Since 2008 the world has changed. The economic system has undergone all kinds of system failures. So far we have seen the meltdown of the housing industry, bank savings, big organizations, companies and so on. But we have also witnessed new initiatives that are based on alternative financial models, informal currency systems and community based sharing models. In Spain the organization of ‘the informal’ has always been fairly well developed. The Netherlands is experimenting with vacant real estate objects and finding ways to implement new approaches in existing structures and organizations.
Workshop Development:
Does self-sufficient real estate exist?
IaaC and Jaula de Elefantes together organized the “Does self-sufficient real estate exist?” workshop consisting in 4 intense days held at the Valldaura Self-Sufficient Labs.
Ten Dutch and Spanish architects and developers gathered to discuss new strategies in the face of the crisis.
The particpants worked in groups towards the development of three urban projects in Holland, areas of potential, that emerged in this moment of crisis, to which they applied self-sufficient strategies.
The Scheveningen docks, the IJburg 2 artificial island and the public space in front of the Sloterdijk Station.
Some of the questions that arose from the workshop regard how to extend self-sufficiency the dense city, remaining efficient economically? How can self sufficiency be a political tool? And what is a suitable scale to generate self-sufficient communities?
The workshop was closed with a presentation with an invited jury, and a visit to the Endesa Pavilion (IAAC, 2011).
