Uses and consumptions of housing. Second edition of Speakeasy

Risky Conversations on Housing, an initiative that brings together important players in the housing sector to discuss current issues through an innovative format.

If last year, under the title Old New WorkThis year, under the heading "Uses and consumption" we talked about new forms of tenure, the future of rental housing, the profile of the tenant of the future, new housing and property development formats, technology applied to the residential sector... And for this we have had the following exceptional panel: Guillermo López (MAIO Architects); Iker Marcaide (La Pinada neighbourhood, Valencia); Marta Rocamora (Community Director WeWork Spain); Sergio Nasarre (UNESCO Housing Chair URV) and Sergio Vinay (Airbnb Marketing Services).

These 5 speakers had a 10-minute intervention each, accompanied by a moderator and with a professional audience of a maximum of 40 attendees, all of them architects, designers, developers, builders, academics and representatives of the public sector.

The setting for the second edition of Speakeasy was at the Espai Travessera de Meritxell Ribé - The Room StudioThe intimate space fuses good interior design and decoration, with respect for the original elements of the estate and with the most avant-garde technology by Tourthe sponsor of the event.

Uses and consumptions of the dwelling?

Today we don't travel as we used to, we don't eat as we used to, we don't flirt as we used to, we don't entertain as we used to, we don't communicate as we used to and, in short, we don't live like we used to (however close we draw the line between "before" and "now"). That is why, At Monapart Barcelona we ask ourselves if the homes on the market today respond to the real needs of their users.. We even wonder if "putting on the market" is such a concept. passé such as the way housing 99% is designed and built...

We want to know if there is anyone in the housing sector who is reflecting on whether what is being built responds to the real needs of the people who live there. contemporary family structures: singles who will never live as a couple, older people without a family, separated couples with children in shared custody, separated couples with children from their previous partners, single parents, traditional families with elderly dependents, retired people from cold countries who long for a second urban residence to spend 6 months a year... Would we have a surprise if we grouped these "structures of individuals" into segments (I said segments..., yes, I said it on purpose) and quantified them? Could it be that some of them are even more interesting, from a real estate business point of view, than the classic father-mother-child(ren) families? [Perhaps Iker Markaide can enlighten us on what the future users of the La Pinada neighbourhood in Valenciathe first eco-neighbourhood co-designed by its inhabitants].

We also question whether the housing that is being put on the market is meeting the real economic situations Is there life beyond selling and renting? What will happen if prices rise more than purchasing power? [Sergio Nasarre, Director of the UNESCO Chair in Housing at Rovira i Virgili University will give us some clues...].

And, if we are wondering, we would also like to know whether the upward trend in the number of collaborative economythe motosharing, homesharing, coworking, colivingetc. may have some impact on the form of consuming housing. [Sergio Vinay de Airbnbthe platform founded in 2008 with more than 800,000 homes in 192 countries and Marta Rocamora from WeWork Spainthe American coworking giant that landed in Spain in 2017, will educate us about it].

At Monapart we think that as long as developers continue to ask architects things they should be asking sociologists [perhaps Guillermo López de Maio Architects can contradict me, although he thinks more than a normal architect], as long as the marketing departments (if there are any) of development companies are little more than designers of dossiers and media centres; as long as the marketing departments (if there are any) of development companies are little more than designers of dossiers and media centres; as long as builders believe that putting technology in a building means installing video intercoms and solar panels in the property [our sponsor Gira shows that there is a lot of technology applicable to wellbeing], we will only be left with the thought that residential proposals are not aligned with the needs of their users. And when this happens, let the real estate establishment tremble, because consumers are like water and will find an alternative way to the sea.

All these issues were discussed at the Speakeasy #2 on 12 April - don't miss the video summary!

If you don't want to miss the next edition, send an email to speakeasy@monapart.com (there are only 40 places available and bookings are made in strict order of confirmation).