Sprawling City and Mass Housing in Modern Europe and Japan: Innovative Design for High Density Residential Complexes by John Habraken and the Metabolists

The period which coincided with the massive reconstruction after the end of WW II and the consequent economic boom which protracted till the early 1970s was one of the rare occasion when sustained economic investments and new research on new models of urban residential schemes were developed in the developed world, foremost in Europe and Japan, in order to redesign the cities and restructure the expanding suburban peripheries. Dutch architect John Habraken and his fellows of the group SAR, as solution to the fast urbanization developed innovative methods for the mass production of housing which combined the attention to the value of individual choice with the aspiration to a higher degree of variety and livability of the built environment. Simultaneously and in the same spirit the Japanese Metabolists promoted a new bold technological language in architecture, which will inspire the post-modern megastructural movement of the period, in order to create new urban forms for the society of the Atomic Age, trying to combine modernity and some elements of the traditional national culture. By focusing on the specific contribution and theoretical concepts promoted by John Habraken and the members of the Metabolist Group in their efforts to resolve the problems of housing shortage in the city in their respective contexts, the paper briefly outlines the key elements of their design approach as proposed in post war Europe and Japan during a phase of fast urban and economic growth.