The theme of this month’s agenda is housing, both as physical and social structure, and as a fundamental right and guarantee of our quality of life. Lynsey Hanley and Paolo Berdini write about the cases of Britain and Italy respectively, describing the qualitative and quantitative changes in low-cost housing: from the years of the welfare state to its crisis with the rise of neoliberal politics.

The theme of this month’s agenda is housing, both as physical and social structure, and as a fundamental right and guarantee of our quality of life. Lynsey Hanley and Paolo Berdini write about the cases of Britain and Italy respectively, describing the qualitative and quantitative changes in low-cost housing: from the years of the welfare state to its crisis with the rise of neoliberal politics.

“Our struggle is to make every time something good,’’ says the Swiss architect Peter Märkli when David Chipperfield visits him in his Zurich studio to discuss the role of the architect in this issue’s “Good practice” feature. 

This month, the “Affinities” column is edited by Amin Taha, founder of the Groupwork cooperative studio in London. The three projects it presents – by Aires Mateus, Ensamble Studio and Christian Kerez – trace an experimental and innovative approach, in formal and material terms, to the expressive dimension of the structure above all.

House in Monsaraz, Alentejo, Portugal/ Aires Mateus.

Fabrica, Madrid, Spain/ Ensamble Studio.

Office building, Îlot A3, Lyon Confluence, Lyon, France/ Christian Kerez.

Finally, Austin Williams presents this month’s “Grand project”, the Lin’an History Museum by Amateur Architecture Studio in Hangzhou, China. The building enhances its bond with the history of the place by harmonising its mass with the landforms of the site and reinterpreting the traditional typology of local villages.

Considering the needs of contemporary society in terms of objects, this month Manolo De Giorgi questions the meaning of design today. His answer is: “A passepartout”. 

Jasper Morrison and Francesca Picchi analyse the Thonet No. 14, the most enduring, profound and intelligent chair ever designed. To the point where, almost two centuries later, it is still a touchstone. 

The Gacha bus from Muji is more a service than an object. Its future, as Brendan Cormier points out, will depend on the most fundamental of the design challenges for driverless vehicles, trust

Finally, German artist Tobias Zielony told Kimberly Bradley about his work recording the social and physical environment at La Vele di Scampia outside Naples in view of the decision to demolish all but one of the towers, a project that highlights the challenges of largescale social and architectural visions.

“I did this drawing to show myself that I knew everything about the project,” writes Tony Fretton, about the Lisson Gallery I building in London. 

Ambra Fabi and Giovanni Piovene, on the other hand, reflect on the chequered fortunes of ornament in architecture and testify to its conscious and joyful return. 

In Berlin, where the effects of gentrification are being seriously considered, Senator Katrin Lompscher explains the proposed innovative housing policies that will ensure the provision of affordable housing.

In Damascus, the writer and architect Marwa Al-Sabouni recounts the 1,400-year history of the Umayyad Mosque, a place that goes beyond religion, but whose future is now at risk.

Finally, through the Domus archive, Shantel Blakely considers the ongoing influence of Le Corbusier’s seminal social housing project, the Unité d’habitation, ever since Gio Ponti implored readers in 1948 to “go to Marseille”.