Luca Morosetti
Heritage & Architecture
The Contemporary Monastry
The Binnengasthuis in Amsterdam developed in the 14th century as a monastery. It has then evolved over the centuries and became how we know it today. The task for the project was to find innovative housing solutions for existing monumental buildings by combining Living and Working.
The monastery itself can teach us how to combine Living and Working in a common living environment. By comparing it with today’s co-housing, the main issue turned out to be that, in the latter, there was never a true binding element for common life as it was Faith. In my design Work becomes the new binder. Here each dweller, or “contemporary monk”, promotes a new working activity and shares living spaces (private, shared, common) with other fellow dwellers. The result is a sort of a long-term “hostel” for young entrepreneurs which decide to share their new experience in a common and vibrant Live/Work environment.