Céline Zimmer has been working for several years on the issue of housing cooperatives and their creation in the Luxembourg context. She even chose to make it the subject of her thesis, presented in 2024 at the University of Luxembourg. This exhibition is the tangible transposition of the results of her research, produced with the collaboration of Exutoire, which contributed to the didactic transcription of her academic data.
“The Luca’s ambition is to tackle social issues that speak to architects and in which they have a role to play. This is why Le Luca has been involved for several months in the search for solutions to the housing crisis in Luxembourg. This exhibition allows all the work carried out by Céline Zimmer as part of her thesis to be made accessible to even an uninformed public,” explains Maribel Casas, director of the Luxembourg Center for Architecture (Luca).
“In my thesis, I approached the subject of cooperatives from a socio-economic, political, legal and legislative point of view. This exhibition also takes things a step further by presenting the architectural creations that came out of these cooperatives and how they work today,” says Zimmer, the exhibition’s curator.
The third market
Cooperatives are part of a third sector, which is neither the private nor the public sector, but a viable alternative that prevents land speculation and guarantees accessibility to housing in the long term.
Several definitions are given in the exhibition to form a common vocabulary and knowledge base. Photo: Luca-Pancake! Photography
To get to the heart of the matter, the first part of the exhibition presents a series of figures, definitions and key concepts to help understand and grasp the subject. It points out, for example, that 98% of housing in Luxembourg is privately owned, with only 2% in the public sector. This highlights a major imbalance. “I’m not attacking anyone in the exhibition,” explains Zimmer. “I’m just showing that there’s a link missing in the chain and I’m contributing all the knowledge I’ve been able to gather on the subject.”
Some figures are very revealing, such as those shown at the entrance to the exhibition. Photo: Luca-Pancake! Photography
A historical proposal, a contemporary application
Then, historical elements are presented, to show that housing cooperatives are a model that dates back to the end of the 19th century. Whilst they were mainly developed in Switzerland, Luxembourg also had a cooperative in the early 20th century, without it becoming permanent. It was not until 2016 that a but it has not yet managed to bring any projects to fruition, due to a lack of land despite an abortive attempt in Kirchberg.
Historical elements relating to co-operatives are on display. Photo: Luca-Pancake! Photographie
“We are currently at a pivotal moment. The need for affordable housing is more pressing than ever and we have the necessary framework for cooperatives to develop. Two plots of land (2,500 m2 SCB) are even currently being put out to competition by Agora at Belval Sud to accommodate a cooperative,” says Zimmer.
When it comes to the legal framework, long discussed for this type of initiative, Zimmer has the answer: “The legal framework exists, but it hasn’t yet been exploited. So we have a lot of elements in our hands to make this system viable. The SCOP (société coopérative) is recognised in Luxembourg and can be used. What’s interesting is that we can add a general interest corporate dimension to it with the SIS (societal impact company), which then enables it to become a social property developer and thus benefit from the ‘Aide à la pierre’ provided for under the law on affordable housing,” explains the researcher. In this way, a subsidy of up to 75% of the construction costs can be applied for, greatly reducing the initial investment required.
To make things more concrete, the exhibition presents an online platform, “For Future Members Only,” which facilitates meetings between people interested in this type of housing. Workshops organised alongside the exhibition also provide a practical way of tackling a number of issues and supporting the first initiatives.
A number of examples of co-operatives exist internationally and are on show at the Luxembourg Center for Architecture. Photo: Luca-Pancake! Photography
International examples
The exhibition also presents several achievements of buildings managed by cooperatives, with examples from Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Visitors can see the diversity of programmes and the architectural quality that these projects can achieve. A range of data is also shared, such as construction costs, rents charged and average market rents, for comparison.
It is also demonstrated that, thanks to the rents collected, this model of residential development can generate a snowball effect, exponentially financing the construction of new housing.
Initiating the development of housing co-operatives is therefore tantamount to supporting a strategy of sustainable expansion of affordable housing stock. And isn’t that exactly what Luxembourg needs today?
“Our New Housing: An invitation to cooperate,” on display until 7 June at the Luxembourg Center for Architecture (Luca).
This article was originally published in .