Global Webinar
"Innovative Inhabitation Models"
26 of February / 10:00-14:20 EET
The webinar “Innovative Inhabitation Models” explores emerging approaches to housing and living environments in response to contemporary social, environmental, and spatial challenges. Situated within the framework of RIXARCH 2026 – LIV-IN, the webinar shifts the focus from housing as a static product to inhabitation as a dynamic process shaped by design quality, governance, sustainability, and everyday life.
Bringing together experts from Latvia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland, and the Netherlands, the webinar presents a series of case studies and conceptual reflections that span multiple scales — from micro-scale interventions in historic city centres to large residential developments and infrastructure-led urban transformation. Together, the contributions highlight how innovation in housing can emerge through reuse, densification, collective living models, environmental ambition, and integrated spatial strategies.
The programme opens with a reflection on housing density and lessons from historical model towns, addressing how past principles of urban design can inform contemporary innovation. Subsequent presentations explore block-oriented renovation strategies that link energy efficiency with the improvement of shared outdoor spaces, as well as collective residential care models that redefine the relationship between care, community, and spatial quality.
The webinar further examines housing as a driver of development in smaller cities, presenting alternative residential concepts that foster identity, safety, and high-quality everyday life within the framework of the 15-minute city. Ambitious sustainability is addressed through the V3 project in Helsinki, demonstrating how climate-positive housing can be achieved through integrated environmental and design strategies.
Finally, the programme looks at underutilised urban resources, including residual spaces above existing buildings in historic centres and railway-owned land, revealing their potential to support affordable housing, socio-ecological densification, and new urban development models.
By connecting diverse contexts and scales, the webinar offers a cross-sectoral perspective on how innovative inhabitation models can contribute to more resilient, inclusive, and future-oriented urban environments, while setting the stage for further dialogue at RIXARCH 2026 – LIV-IN.
Programme
Moderator: Reinis Saliņš, Co/Founder Layercake and Arhiteksti.
10:00
Opening & Welcome, Introduction to RIXARCH 2026 – LIV-IN
Efe Duyan, PhD Associate Professor, Dr. & Head of Scientific Direction
RISEBA University, Faculty of Architecture and Design (Riga, Latvia)
10:10
Housing Density and Learning from the Past
Matt Quayle, Urban Designer and Chartered Landscape Architect, Head of Strategic Projects at Homes England, the UK Government Housing and Regeneration Agency, Studio Tutor at Manchester School of Architecture, Fellow of the royal Society for the Arts and Academician at the Academy of Urbanism.
Description: Revisiting and applying UK 19th Century Model Town Planning and design principles as innovative 21st Century responses to address the UK housing crisis background. Case studies explore Design Quality and the opportunity for Innovation in urbanism for the regeneration of former industrial northern UK cities
10:40
New Life for Old Housing: A Block-Oriented Approach
Māra Reča, RVPA Rīgas Enerģetikas aģentūra, Starptautisko projektu koordinatore, Riga, Latvia
Description: By renovating existing housing at the scale of the urban block, this approach links energy efficiency upgrades with the improvement of shared outdoor spaces, enhancing both living quality and neighbourhood cohesion.
11:10
More Than Residential Care: Innovation and Collective Living in Budalys, Kortrijk
11:40–12:00
Coffee Break
12:00
Housing Challenges of a Small City: High quality life- low stress city
Evija Nagle, Deputy Executive Director of Valmiera Municipality – Head of Development Department, Latvia.
Description: In Valmiera, Housing as a Driver of Development, Not Just a Place to Live.
The Urban Villa Concept in the City. Big Alternative Solutions for a Small CityResidential Districts with Identity.Urban Safety. The 15-Minute City.
12:30
Ground-breaking Greenest of the Green (Vihreistä Vihrein Vuosaari - the V3) housing development project in Vuosaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Taina Suonio, Multiple award-winning RHS Chelsea Flower Show Designer, MSc Environmental Policy and Change, BSc Environmental Biology, Horticulturist, Green Flag Award (GFA) judge, Researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland.
Description: The V3 housing development in Vuosaari demonstrates how cutting-edge sustainability strategies and innovative design can shape high-quality, climate-positive residential environments within a contemporary urban setting.
13:00
Opwallen, New space for the old city
Herman Zonderland, Chief urbanist at Amsterdam's city centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Description: Opwallen explores how residual spaces above existing buildings in Amsterdam’s Wallen area can enable affordable housing, cultural renewal, and socio-ecological densification through contemporary architecture and micro-scale urban transformation.
13:30
Railway Spaces as Urban Opportunity: New Development Models
Maarten Van Acker, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Description: This presentation explores how railway-owned land in Belgium can be transformed into urban opportunities, showcasing new development models that integrate infrastructure, housing, public space, and long-term urban value.
14:00
Closing Remarks & Outlook
Key takeaways
Looking ahead to RIXARCH 2026 – LIV-IN