Județului Residence - ApartamenTUal București

This co-housing project, initiated through the ApartamenTUal platform, proposes an alternative to the conventional developer-driven housing model that has come to dominate recent urban growth. Instead of standardized units delivered to anonymous buyers, the project is based on direct involvement: a group of families collectively acquired the land, participated in the design process, and built a small residential building tailored to their specific needs.

The project challenges the prevailing logic of efficiency and repetition, which often produces generic living environments disconnected from their inhabitants. Here, housing is understood not as a finished product, but as a negotiated process, one that begins with finding the right group of people, continues with defining shared intentions, and materializes through collaboration in design and construction.

Architecturally, the building reflects this approach through a flexible and legible structure. Individual apartments are complemented by shared spaces: a common living area, a courtyard, and terraces that support everyday interaction and foster a sense of community. The relationship between private and collective is carefully balanced, allowing both autonomy and proximity.

At the same time, the project operates as a small-scale social experiment. It tests the possibility of rebuilding trust, cooperation, and collective responsibility within the process of making housing. In a context where these qualities are often absent, the act of building together becomes as important as the building itself.

As a pilot for the ApartamenTUal platform, the project suggests that this model can be replicated and expanded. It outlines a framework in which housing is no longer dictated solely by market forces, but shaped by the people who inhabit it, opening the possibility for a more participatory, resilient, and socially grounded urban development.