Emergency Exit : Conceptual Design for the Systemic Densification of Ljubljana's Housing Stock

In the 70s, most housing in Slovenia was built by the socialist state or working-class self-builders—without mortgages, loans, contractors, or precise plans. If you own a house in Slovenia—and over half do—it was likely self-built by your grandfather, then upgraded through family savings. After Yugoslavia’s collapse, housing privatization left many inheriting large self-built homes. The unlucky few face an unregulated rental market with illegal contracts. With land rarely sold, owning an apartment without family support is now nearly impossible for much of Slovenia’s middle class.

Unlike the dense, green-space-starved city boroughs of European capitals, Ljubljana is a patchwork of single-family houses — sometimes aesthetically questionable — set on large plots with well-kept gardens. The contrast is stark. Non owners range from working class to upper middle class and owning a large house in the city is not reserved only for the high earning 10%. The project responds to this imbalance with architectural interventions inspired by the self-built movement as a model for urban densification. Instead of working within rigid state/individual/developer frameworks, it embraces a small-scale approach to deliver generous, affordable housing. Given scarce land and high building costs the new wave builds collectively. The project proposes three flexible models tailored to Ljubljana’s dominant urban situations: 1. Split-level Row Houses: Inserted into gaps between scattered single-family homes, the units sit on rented land, with landowners retaining ground-floor parking. The cooperative builds only the functional shells, allowing residents to finish spaces through labour. 2. Block Annexes: A model for extending the low-density but unremarkable 1950s-60s housing. For the firts time ever it makes itpossible for collective housing inhabitants to make a mark on their house. 3. The Backyard Shed: Would be a result of contract between the owner of a row house and the state with which the state would partially fund a self built shed in their back yards in exchange for its 10-year lease. The houses would be rented to students creating a spread-out student housing estate across Ljubljana’s residential neighbourhoods, making students feel like actual people rather than problems to be stuffed in crowded dormitories.