Housing Crisis as Design Crisis: Six Strategies to Halve Demand

Architect and researcher Beatriz Ramo argues that the housing crisis is not solely a quantity problem but also a design problem. In an article for Veredes, she presents six residential design strategies developed by her firm STAR strategies + architecture that could reduce the need for new housing by up to 40%, potentially halving demand. These strategies include the 'super-versatile' two-bedroom dwelling, the divisible dwelling, the 'extra room' (using mechanisms like the 'plug' balcony, 'modular living room', and 'relocatable kitchen'), co-residence (a shared housing typology developed in 2012), the PLUS typology (an intermediate category with a small open 'PLUS' space), and compact dwellings that reduce surface area by 25-40% without compromising quality. Ramo emphasizes that many cities already have sufficient residential surface but it is blocked in oversized, underused, or inflexible homes; for instance, a third of the EU population lives in housing considered too large for their household. The strategies were applied in the START-Ivry project in Greater Paris, demonstrating that better floor plans can activate latent capacity without increasing construction costs or built area. Ramo calls for a shift in focus from merely building more to designing smarter, as good design not only improves daily life but also reduces public spending and enhances social, economic, and environmental outcomes.