Hidden in Plain Sight

Social housing has a long-standing tradition in Europe. Since the early 20th century, these often anonymously built and sometimes overlooked structures have established themselves in the suburbs of major European cities. Through the multidisciplinary international research project "Mapping Public Housing," the Center for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Porto explores this architectural heritage and demonstrates that vibrant communities and entire neighborhoods have often emerged from these housing projects. This book examines exemplary cases from Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Switzerland, and Spain, among others. The range spans from the beginnings of social housing in Portugal, thanks to German investments during World War I, through the propaganda policies related to subsidized housing for the working class in the 1940s, to sustainable conceptual ideas for the future. This creates a broad panorama that understands the development of subsidized construction as part of Europe's cultural history and outlines the important role that state-funded housing played in the emergence of the European welfare state.