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Irish Times
a day ago
- General
- Irish Times
‘This is like living the dream': Communities turn builders to beat the housing crisis in Barcelona
'I would say this thing is like living the dream ... housing is so hard, but here I have a peace of mind in my life, I have security.' Adrià Garcia Mateu lives in La Borda, a co-operative housing development in Barcelona built on state land. La Borda began its life in 2012 when local housing campaigners, social activists and architects sought a solution to the housing shortages in the Catalan city and could no longer ignore the vacant space beside them. They formed a co-operative and secured a low-cost, 75-year lease on the public land from the municipal government. READ MORE Together they organised the funding, design and construction of the development. La Borda was completed in 2018 and has 28 apartments, with rents of between €350 and €650 per month. Residents also pay a membership fee of €18,500 to take a share in the development. It cost €3 million to build and was funded mainly by loans from a co-operative bank and residents' contributions. It is built from Spanish timber and concrete; residents' apartments are all set around a central courtyard. It has shared laundry, kitchen and livingroom spaces, a co-working space and a garage with shared tools. The project has gained significant international attention and has been praised for its design and the way it was conceived and built. At the heart of the project is something ingrained in Catalan culture – the importance of community. 'Neighbours are such a strong social figure in Catalonia. When my mom tells the story of her childhood, she always talks about neighbours. They are like a family, because they've been living there together for generations,' says Mateu. Adrià Garcia Mateu: 'Neighbours are such a strong social figure in Catalonia'. Photograph: Paul Kelly For him, fellow residents of La Borda are more than just neighbours who 'share the security of my housing'; some are friends and some are 'like my family'. 'This kind of sense of community that the place gives us, starting at the building – that's something that, for me, is one of the key things,' he says. In addition, the housing is cheap, beautiful and 'in a neighbourhood that is fighting not to get gentrified,' Mateu says. It is hard to underestimate the huge task this community group undertook to campaign for and then organise, design and construct what ultimately is a very basic requirement: affordable housing for local residents in a thriving city. 'It's perverse that we need to be superheroes of housing in order to get decent, basic human rights,' Mateu says. 'I'm always advocating for public, community-led housing like this partnership, but not everybody needs to become a housing activist.' Mateu told the story of La Borda at the International Social Housing Festival in Dublin last week when more than 2,000 housing experts from across the world met in the Convention Centre to share ideas on better housing policy. Barcelona's housing crisis echoes the crisis in Ireland, Spanish public housing consultant Eduard Cabré told The Irish Times at the festival. 'Barcelona is at a pretty critical point now in terms of social housing. For a long time in Spain, social housing was considered to be a way to access home ownership. So we only have about 2 per cent public and social rental housing, and we essentially lack tools to respond to the need of social and affordable housing that we're facing currently,' Cabré says. The biggest pressure point in the market is in the private rental sector. 'Ever since the global financial crisis, access to home ownership has been very much restricted, and so all of the youth and migrant population are essentially fighting to get access to housing in the private rental sector, which has been very much strained,' says Cabré. This has resulted in prices increasing fast in the past few years. Spanish public housing consultant Eduard Cabré: 'Ever since the global financial crisis, access to home ownership has been very much restricted.' Photograph: Paul Kelly Average rents in Barcelona now stand at €1,193 a month, according to the latest data from the Catalan Land Institute, the region's public land authority. Median net income in Spain stood at €19,307 – or €1,603 per month – last year, according to Eurostat, pointing to the pressure on affordability. In 2023 the country's socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, ushered through the country's first housing law since its return to democracy in 1975. The legislation caps rent rises at 2.2 per cent, limits landlords' ability to increase prices between tenancies and protects renters from evictions. The rules have stabilised prices and 'resulted in renters being able to stay in their homes for longer', says Cabré. 'It's going good in the sense that it has been able to moderate prices in Barcelona and all of the other municipalities in which it has been implemented.' Short-term rentals were already regulated, with owners requiring a licence to operate. The number of licences allowed is capped with no new licences allowed. However, a loophole has emerged whereby seasonal rentals, those between one and 11 months long, have been able to escape the rent caps and this has had an impact on the supply of long-term rentals. 'We have seen a decline in the new supply of rental housing, with some of it moving to the short-term seasonal rental rentals,' says Cabré. 'So what we're trying to do now is to regulate these seasonal rentals, and we hope that a lot of landlords will go back to the long-term rentals again because they won't see an incentive to do the seasonal contracts.' Two initiatives are helping to tackle housing shortages. The first is the leasing of municipal land in city centre locations for non-profit housing such as that seen in La Borda. 'We provide a long-term lease of 75 to 99 years, and once they have that piece of land, they can develop housing which needs to be permanently affordable,' Cabré says. The second measure he cites is the state acquisition of privately owned buildings for public housing stock. The state has first preference to acquire buildings larger than six units should a property come on the market. Cabré says these acquisitions have been happening over the past 10 years with more than 1,600 units bought by the State. 'We think this tool is especially important because it allows us to create affordable housing opportunities in areas of the city where we won't necessarily have the ability to develop new housing because they are pretty much built up,' he says. 'It also keeps social cohesion across the city, and allows us to scatter our properties all over.' What can Ireland learn about housing from other European countries? Vienna Vienna has a large share of social housing. Almost half of all tenants in Vienna live 'within the spectrum of social housing', says Mara Verlic, a policy adviser with the Austrian Chamber of Labour, a practice that dates back to what she calls the 'interwar time'. 'It's a time period that is sometimes referred to as red Vienna, where in just a couple of years there was a huge socialist housing programme where 60,000 flats were built,' says Verlic. 'They built huge housing complexes, and it was actually planned to be spread around the city, so wherever there was free land at that time, social housing would be built. It also contributes to the social mix of the whole city today because most of these still exist and have never been privatised.' Mara Verlic, a policy adviser with the Austrian Chamber of Labour. Photograph: Paul Kelly The city never moved away from what she calls 'object-based subsidies' – housing built by the State – to 'subject-based subsidies', such as rental supports. Today, more than 20 per cent of the housing stock is owned by the state, while another 20 per cent or more is built by co-operatives. 'I would say there is definitely the culture of being proud of these social housing estates,' says Verlic. 'We did a study on the quality of the buildings and came to the conclusion that the quality standards are higher within the social houses.' Brussels In Brussels there has been a move to convert vacant offices to housing as remote work takes hold in the city post-Covid. Paulien Bleekman, a PhD researcher at the Architectural Engineering school in Vrije Universiteit Brussel, has been looking at the work of private real estate company Inclusio, which provides housing to social rental agencies in Brussels. 'They convert office buildings to social housing, focusing on the potential of existing structures, to convert them quickly to housing so that it doesn't take up a lot of construction time,' Bleekman says. Paulien Bleekman, a PhD researcher, has studied the conversion of vacant offices to housing in Brussels. Photograph: Paul Kelly One such complex is Pavillon 7-9, the headquarters of the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities until the outbreak of Covid-19. Inclusio purchased it in 2018 when remote work removed the need for such a large office space and converted it into 41 residential units. 'In Brussels now there are about 50,000 families on the waiting list [for social housing], so they need to double the number of social housing properties to help all the people on the waiting list,' Bleekman says. Italy In Italy there is a move towards using more sustainable materials in their building of social homes. Marta Cassanova, a professor in the department of architecture at the University of Genoa, has been working on a project in Liguria that aims to 'rethink' social housing for an ageing population. The project will result in an old hotel being converted into a social housing complex for older people in the coastal city of Imperia. While a core aim of the project is working not just with architects but also artists and 'social innovators' to design inclusive space, using as much wood as possible was the driving force for sustainability and environmental reasons. 'In Italy, we don't use a lot of wood in construction, normally just brick or reinforced concrete. It's expensive, it's not in our tradition,' Cassanova says. 'It is better for our environmental footprint, this is a sustainable material, and we have a lot of forest in Italy – but we have to build the supply chain.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Helen Keller's Family, Companions, & the Life They Built Together
As a disabled social activist and suffragette, Helen Keller is a household name. But her life story doesn't begin and end with her work. Let's take a deeper look into her early life, her evolving relationships with family, mentors, and friends, as well as the ways in which her disability shaped her experiences and informed the legacy we still engage with today. Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1880. She developed a brain fever at just 19 months old — later speculated to be either meningitis or scarlet fever — which left her deaf and blind. Losing both her sight and hearing at such a young age proved challenging, as you'd expect. Without easy access to occupational therapy or specialized schools, as many disabled children have today, Helen had to adapt to her environment on her own. She worked to feel and smell her world through her remaining senses. Many families with nonverbal or disabled children know how that lack of communication can be extremely frustrating for them and often lead to tantrums. Helen Keller was no different, throwing things and eating from others' plates to get her way. It's a common misconception that her famed tutor, Anne Sullivan, swooped in to save the day. Yet, Helen did use a primitive communication technique before ever coming into contact with Anne. She used a simple sign language that consisted of 60 signs with her family members and her companion, Martha Washington, who was the child of her family's cook. In addition to her friend Martha, Helen's dog Belle, an old setter, was also a constant companion to her. She enjoyed Belle's presence, excitement, and overall calm manner. Given her disabilities, Helen didn't lead a stereotypical adulthood. She and Anne Sullivan bought a home together in Wrentham, Massachusetts. Though Anne later married John A. Macy in 1905, Helen continued to live with the couple even into her 30s. Macy, an editor of Keller's autobiography, was also a great friend of Helen's. Both joined the Socialist Party (Helen in 1909), with Helen later becoming a suffragist. Helen seemed happy in the Macy's home, and John devised a system for her to be able to take regular walks. However, the marriage didn't last. While the two never formally divorced, John and Anne parted ways in 1914 and became estranged. Meanwhile, Helen continued staying with Anne. Incredibly, Helen's fight for social rights didn't end with the Suffragist Movement. She was a devout humanitarian and even co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union. She was also active in raising awareness and encouraging support for the blind. Additionally, Helen published four books about her life, one on religion, one on social problems, and a biography of Anne Sullivan. Probably one of the most notable of her accomplishments is that at the age of 75, she did a five-month, 40,000-mile trek across Asia. Helen Keller gradauted cum laude from Radcliffe College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1904. Related: Despite her achievements and triumphs, Helen Keller wasn't a monolith. She had people who loved and supported her, just as you do! We all have people who touch us along the way, and these are some of the important people to pop up in Helen's life. Helen was Arthur and Kate Keller's first child. After serving in the Confederate Army, her father became an editor for the North Alabamian. His first marriage to Sarah E. Rosser left him a widower, though he later married Kate Adams in 1877. Helen had a loving relationship with her parents, who sought to find the best care they could for her. Helen Keller was a distant cousin of Confederate General, Robert E. Lee, through her father's line. Helen was far from an only child, having a younger sister named Mildred and two stepbrothers, Simpson and James. While Helen struggled to adapt in an environment not well-suited for her needs with family who didn't know how to help, James is believed to have had a firmer hand with Helen than most. Helen also had a younger brother, Phillips, whom she helped name. While Helen didn't mention her brothers much in her writings, she did discuss walking hand-in-hand with her sister and attempting to talk to her with her primitive language. Once Helen learned to speak, Mildred became a close confidant. In 1886, Helen's mother contacted Alexander Graham Bell, who was working on a hearing device for the deaf. He led them to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, where Anne Sullivan was studying. With a visual impairment herself, Anne was a star student at Perkins Institute and traveled to Alabama to work with Helen. Through their hard work, Helen learned to use sign language and read braille by the time she was 10 years old! Helen also wanted to learn how to speak, so Anne took her to the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston. After having eleven lessons there, Anne took over her instruction, and Helen eventually learned to speak. Unsurprisingly, the two remained close until Anne's death in 1936. Helen Keller never married or had children, not that she didn't try. At 36, she and Peter Fagan applied for a marriage license that was never fulfilled. When Anne became ill, Peter, a 29-year-old reporter, became Helen's temporary secretary. During this time, the two grew close and made plans to marry. However, Helen's family was against the match, believing in the unfortunately common idea at the time that marriage and motherhood were not options for a disabled woman like her. The two planned to elope nonetheless, but Peter never came. Helen later said of the relationship, "His love was a bright sun that shone upon my helplessness and isolation." After the failed elopement, Helen never saw Peter again. Polly Thomson was another companion in Helen's adult life. A housekeeper from Scotland who eventually became Keller's secretary, she worked with both Anne and Helen. After Anne was no longer able to travel with Helen due to her declining health, Polly became Helen's best-known companion. Polly took Anne's place after her death and remained by Helen's side until her own death in 1960. Helen Keller was dealt a difficult hand as a young child, but she took advantage of every opportunity that came her way. Leaning on the friends and family around her, she fought for social and human rights, sought to increase her education at every turn, and lived a rich life right up to the end. And it's this triumphant story that's led to the even richer legacy we revere today.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
What Meghan Markle and Nicola Peltz have in common: All similarities between Duchess and Brooklyn Beckham's wife as couples hold 'Beckxit' summit amid family feuds
While both are Americans navigating troubled family dynamics after marrying the British sons of famous fathers, the similarities do not end there. And Meghan Markle and Nicola Peltz would have had plenty in common to discuss when they recently had dinner in the so-called 'Beckxit' summit in Montecito. Meghan married Prince Harry in 2018 while Nicola wed Brooklyn Beckham in 2022, with both slightly older than their husbands and actresses turned influencers. The Duchess of Sussex starred in Suits and ran a lifestyle blog before she briefly became a member of the Royal Family then stepped down two years later in 2020. Meghan has since begun a new life in California – launching TV shows, podcasts and a lifestyle business while hitting out at her old royal life with a series of barbs. As for Nicola, the daughter of a frozen food empire tycoon, she also tried to crack Hollywood but is now the face of a fashion brand and prolific on Instagram. The two women live less than 100 miles away from each other - Meghan in a $14.5million mansion in Montecito, and Nicola in a $10.5million Beverly Hills home. Meghan and Nicola are also both into social activism, with Meghan becoming a prominent campaigner on issues such as mental health and online misinformation. Nicola meanwhile has been outspoken about the difficulties facing sex workers and directed Lola, her first film last year, which was about a struggling stripper. The women also have a similar age gap to their husbands who are slightly younger than them - Meghan is 43 while Harry is 40, and Nicola is 30 while Brooklyn is 26. And while Meghan and Nicola were both used to the limelight before marriage, they have been propelled into a new stratosphere after marrying their famous husbands. Meghan starred in legal drama Suits from 2011 until 2018 and also had a small role in the 2011 movie Horrible Bosses, but was reasonably unknown outside the US Nicola had an agent from the age of 12 and appeared in films such as Deck The Halls in 2006, The Last Airbender in 2010 and Transformers: Age of Extinction in 2014, but again was relatively unknown before her relationship with Brooklyn. The women have both since been working on wellness and lifestyle ventures, with Meghan launching As Ever last month with a collection of herbal teas, flower sprinkles and luxury honey which sold out quickly. As for Nicola, she has been working as a model and is now the face of the Swedish fashion brand NA-KD. Both women are also friends with various celebrities, with Meghan close to the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams, Mindy Kaling and the Clooneys. Nicola is friends with Sofia Richie as well as supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid, and had a previous relationship with their brother Anwar. They also share plenty of similarities with their lavish weddings, with Meghan's costing an estimated £32million when she married Harry in a ceremony at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in May 2018. Nicola wed Brooklyn in a £3million wedding at the Peltz family's £76million Palm Beach estate in 2022. But they both had drama relating to dresses for their weddings – with Meghan having a spat with Kate over bridesmaids' dresses which is said to have left both of them in tears. Meanwhile Victoria Beckham offered to make her future daughter-in-law's dress, but she declined and went for a Valentino design instead. And they share similarities in how they have taken on their husband's name and brand since marriage – with Meghan famously calling herself 'Meghan Sussex' during her Netflix show in March, and Nicola calling herself 'Mrs Nicola Peltz Beckham'. The woman also both have a love of dogs, with Nicola setting up Yogi's House, a foster-based rescue shelter in Los Angeles. Her dog Nala died last July after a routine trip to the groomers. Meghan is also known to love dogs, having mourned the death of her rescue beagle Guy in January and previously being a patron for the UK animal welfare charity Mayhem. Now of course, Meghan and Nicola will have plenty to talk about given the ongoing family feuds being played out very publicly. Brooklyn and Nicola failed to attend any of his father David Beckham's 50th birthday celebrations earlier this month despite being in England at the time. They are said to have fallen out with the Beckhams, although Victoria and David are said to blame Nicola for their son not attending any of the events. Brooklyn has not been pictured with siblings Romeo, 22, Cruz, 20, and Harper, 13, since Boxing Day, and failed to acknowledge Mother's Day for Victoria in March. As for Harry, he has become estranged from his family in recent years – most notably from his brother Prince William and father King Charles III - since stepping down as senior royal and moving to California. A series of barbs have followed – mostly recently in a BBC interview earlier this month when the Duke said his father will no longer speak to him. Now, sources have claimed Harry and Meghan are 'secretly supporting' Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz because of their 'similar family feuds'. The two women are said to have had a 'deep and meaningful' chat in Montecito – and Brooklyn and Nicola have received 'unwavering support' from Harry and Meghan who reportedly feel 'empathetic' towards them.
