The article is aimed to discuss and reconsider the concept and challenges of the social housing in the world and in Lithuania. The research consists of three major parts. In the first part the evolution of social housing from the 18th century until nowadays was analyzed and evaluated and the main trends of architectural expression of social housing were distinguished and shortly characterized. The second part was devoted to the introduction of the dimension of sustainability in the design of affordable housing. The idea of sustainable architecture and the trends of its expression were presented and the composite trends of social housing in urban settings with dimensions of sustainability were formulated and characterized. The third part of the research dealt with the local specifics of the city of Kaunas: the possibilities of localization of the social housing of different trends were analyzed and the experimental design of the social housing complex demonstrating the possibilities of application of environmentally friendly technologies and the potential of rehabilitation of neglected urban areas was shortly presented.

House was probably the first freestanding building of the prehistoric humans. This field of architectural design and construction remains of crucial importance from the social, cultural, economic, and environmental points of view until today. Take, for example, the influence of housing construction sector on the environment due to the development of industrial construction technologies, and the increasing world’s population, or the emotional, psychological impact of the closest everyday built environment on the human development. Considering this, we have decided to analyze the links between types, forms, and features of housing and ethical approaches towards the environment. This research has a historical dimension: we have analyzed the importance of different land management (landscape architecture) criteria in housing development in different historical periods and tried to identify the genesis of and conditions for the environmental concern in this field. The analysis of challenges of the present situation in the housing sector development has allowed us to identify main conditions of uncertainty, constant change, and diversity of possible architectural, technological, and ethical approaches that shape this field today. We propose that housing solutions may vary from low-tech buildings made with vernacular technologies and local building materials to ecological high-tech buildings still maintaining the environmentally friendly approach; however, taking into account the constant housing shortages and the increasing world’s population, the sector of affordable sustainable housing should be given a priority.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.62.4.2358