High-rise Housing in Europe

Book excerpt: Whilst every country has its own house-building traditions, there is only one truly European housing type. In the generation after the Second World War, countries throughout Europe built high-rise housing in the public sector as the modern' response to acute housing shortage.North and south, east and west, similar dreams were shared in different political cultures, high-rise was as an expression of the new Europe. A generation later, products which shared similar starting points have reached very different positions. This book attempts to tell the story of high-rise housing in 15 European countries, from first thoughts to current realities and finally to future prospects.