De Torteltuin, Amsterdam

Iris and Alexander live in Amsterdam, a city that suffers from a lack of affordable housing. They realised after graduating from university they’d be unlikely to stay because of astronomical rents. Like many other global cities, the diversity that makes Amsterdam a dynamic place is being squeezed dry by ballooning property markets. The week I met Iris and Alexander, the city municipality had signed over a new piece of land to their co-operative society, De Torteltuin. The result of many months of hard work within the co-operative, the contract will prevent the land from ever falling into private ownership. Rather than rely on a housing developer, the group held workshop sessions to help design the space and its collaborative decision-making frameworks, and all those interested in joining De Torteltuin attended. The exact shape of life together – how often members will meet, whether they will eat together or share bicycles – will emerge as the building itself takes shape.

Both Iris and Alexander are aware that a sense of belonging is dependent on the inclusion of members in the design process, and Iris describes sending letters out to countless refugee and community groups so that the meetings and, in turn, the housing slots, wouldn’t just be full of university students who had the time and networks to get involved. It had yielded mixed results, she told me, but they were pleased to have recently had a group of refugees join their team.

In addition, the group will also work collaboratively to manage the space. There will be no landlord sanctioning the use of Blu-tack, and provisions will be made so that people on different incomes can live there and communal space will be prioritised in a way that is rare when properties are privately owned. By taking away the need to create profit and by managing the block themselves, the project will provide housing that will enable people on lower incomes to live in throwing distance of the city. detorteltuin.co