On Friday 26 January 2024, Paul Karakusevic joined an expert panel at the Barbican Centre in London to present ideas for A Public Housing Manifesto. Curated by the Architecture Foundation as part of their Architecture on Stage programme, the sold out 1,250-person event took place in a General Election year in the UK.
Paul argued for the need for any new government to establish a dedicated Minister for Public Housing. This would ensure a focus is placed on the design, funding, and delivery of social and genuinely affordable housing.
After 50 years of neglect it is time for a mission based ‘Ministry of Public Housing’ that focuses on quality, dignity, and management of housing that is vital for health, well-being, life chances and environment improvements. For too long public housing has been a political football which has been overlooked and underfunded. In the 105 years since the Addison Act in 1919 the UK has never had a dedicated Minister for Public Housing. This needs to change!
Introduced and chaired by Claire Bennie from Municipal, the panelists included Pooja Agrawal (Public Practice), Russell Curtis (RCKA), Mellis Haward (Archio), Joseph Henry (Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design), Adam Khan (Adam Khan architects), Annalie Riches (Mikhail Riches Architects), Osama Shoush (Southwark Council) Astrid Smitham (Apparata) and Dame Kate Macintosh.
To support and inform the event, the studio created a social housing timeline handout offering a snapshot of the UK’s journey over the last 180 years – Download Here
