From Theory to Practice: Assessing the Open Building Movement’s Role in Egypt’s Housing Market over Four Decades
This research explores the concept of open building (OB) in the context of low-cost housing, focusing on its historical applications in Egypt during the 1980s. By evaluating past experiences, the study aims to extract key lessons that can inform the design and implementation of contemporary social h...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/15/2600 |
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| author | Rania Nasreldin Dalia Abdelfattah |
| author_facet | Rania Nasreldin Dalia Abdelfattah |
| author_sort | Rania Nasreldin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This research explores the concept of open building (OB) in the context of low-cost housing, focusing on its historical applications in Egypt during the 1980s. By evaluating past experiences, the study aims to extract key lessons that can inform the design and implementation of contemporary social housing projects. The goal is to foster resilience and diversity in housing typologies to ensure they align with the evolving needs of residents. To achieve these objectives, the research employed a multi-dimensional strategy, beginning with a comprehensive literature review of the open building movement (OB); then, the study traced the evolution of the OB movement in Egypt using a qualitative analysis approach, which involved analyzing its implementation in low-cost housing projects over the past four decades. Through this historical lens, the study identifies design principles and strategies that can enhance social housing projects by applying OB. Considering the life cycle cost, OB enables an incremental process that would align with users’ financial capacities. The research revealed the substantial capacity of open building (OB) to address Egypt’s social housing challenges, primarily by fostering user-driven flexibility in housing unit design and area selection. This empowers occupants to choose spaces perfectly suited to their family’s evolving needs. Moreover, the findings provide a roadmap for revitalizing the OB movement by analyzing and overcoming past implementation difficulties, consequently balancing the initial cost and long-term economics for citizens and significantly reducing the governmental sector’s expenditure. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2af5ea7c2f534ac3b98db758674834e9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj-art-2af5ea7c2f534ac3b98db758674834e92025-08-20T03:36:39ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-07-011515260010.3390/buildings15152600From Theory to Practice: Assessing the Open Building Movement’s Role in Egypt’s Housing Market over Four DecadesRania Nasreldin0Dalia Abdelfattah1Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza 12613, EgyptDepartment of Architecture, College of Engineering, Al Yamamah University, Riyadh 13541, Saudi ArabiaThis research explores the concept of open building (OB) in the context of low-cost housing, focusing on its historical applications in Egypt during the 1980s. By evaluating past experiences, the study aims to extract key lessons that can inform the design and implementation of contemporary social housing projects. The goal is to foster resilience and diversity in housing typologies to ensure they align with the evolving needs of residents. To achieve these objectives, the research employed a multi-dimensional strategy, beginning with a comprehensive literature review of the open building movement (OB); then, the study traced the evolution of the OB movement in Egypt using a qualitative analysis approach, which involved analyzing its implementation in low-cost housing projects over the past four decades. Through this historical lens, the study identifies design principles and strategies that can enhance social housing projects by applying OB. Considering the life cycle cost, OB enables an incremental process that would align with users’ financial capacities. The research revealed the substantial capacity of open building (OB) to address Egypt’s social housing challenges, primarily by fostering user-driven flexibility in housing unit design and area selection. This empowers occupants to choose spaces perfectly suited to their family’s evolving needs. Moreover, the findings provide a roadmap for revitalizing the OB movement by analyzing and overcoming past implementation difficulties, consequently balancing the initial cost and long-term economics for citizens and significantly reducing the governmental sector’s expenditure.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/15/2600open housing buildingslow-cost housingEgyptsocial housing |
| spellingShingle | Rania Nasreldin Dalia Abdelfattah From Theory to Practice: Assessing the Open Building Movement’s Role in Egypt’s Housing Market over Four Decades Buildings open housing buildings low-cost housing Egypt social housing |
| title | From Theory to Practice: Assessing the Open Building Movement’s Role in Egypt’s Housing Market over Four Decades |
| title_full | From Theory to Practice: Assessing the Open Building Movement’s Role in Egypt’s Housing Market over Four Decades |
| title_fullStr | From Theory to Practice: Assessing the Open Building Movement’s Role in Egypt’s Housing Market over Four Decades |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Theory to Practice: Assessing the Open Building Movement’s Role in Egypt’s Housing Market over Four Decades |
| title_short | From Theory to Practice: Assessing the Open Building Movement’s Role in Egypt’s Housing Market over Four Decades |
| title_sort | from theory to practice assessing the open building movement s role in egypt s housing market over four decades |
| topic | open housing buildings low-cost housing Egypt social housing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/15/2600 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ranianasreldin fromtheorytopracticeassessingtheopenbuildingmovementsroleinegyptshousingmarketoverfourdecades AT daliaabdelfattah fromtheorytopracticeassessingtheopenbuildingmovementsroleinegyptshousingmarketoverfourdecades |