Meer Generatie Wonen

The mixing of generations in the living environment is something very human; it has been since the dawn of time. Since the Industrial Revolution however, Western societies have adopted a more segregated way of living; something which is now testing the limits of what society can handle. To address the issue, we wrote “Meer Generatie Wonen”, a book on solidarity and how we can reincorporate intergenerational living in the built environment.

Since founding the office in 2015, BETA has been working on intergenerational living. One of the office’s first projects was Three Generation House, a project of modest size which received much attention from around the globe. To investigate the potential of scaling the ideas behind the project, BETA teamed up with project developer AM to produce a research into how intergenerational living could be realized and scaled in the Western context.

While the concept of actively mixing generations in the living environment might seem novel, it is of course an ancient concept which was widely practiced globally, also in Western Europe until the Industrial Revolution. It is furthermore not at all remarkable in practically every contemporary culture outside the Western world.

With a preface by architecture critic Kirsten Hannema, “Meer Generatie Wonen” draws on literature, (inter-) national precedents and very personal experiences to come up with a series of prerequisites for intergenerational living. Three case studies were developed to illustrate the potential in the Dutch context.

The book is in Dutch but we are making plans to get it translated into English.

Get your free digital copy

One of the goals of this research project is to share knowledge. This is why we’re making the book free to view and read online.

Just send us a request using the form and we’ll send you a reply right away with a link to the publication.

For now the book is in Dutch but we’re making plans to get it translated into English. If you want to be kept up to speed on the research project, please drop us a line at intergen@beta-office.com