Not A Group House, Not A Commune: Europe Experiments With Co-Housing

While still in architecture school, María García Mendez and Gonzalo Navarrete drafted a plan to re-design a high-density area of Alfafar, Valencia, using the principle of co-housing — in which residents trade and share space and resources, depending on their needs. It's not just an architecture project. It's a fusion of architecture and rehabilitation. It's social policy. This article presents an innovative idea to turn abandoned commercial buildings into much-needed social housing in Spain.