A new collection of unbuilt housing projects spanning from Tirana to Monterrey showcases how architects worldwide are reimagining collective living through innovative design approaches that prioritize community, sustainability, and adaptability. These eight projects, submitted by the ArchDaily community, represent diverse responses to contemporary housing challenges across different cultural and environmental contexts.
The selected proposals investigate new forms of dwelling that range from mobile units and vertical developments to adaptive reuse projects and landscape-driven residential clusters. Rather than treating housing as merely functional containers, these projects position residential architecture as a social and spatial framework that actively shapes everyday life, strengthens community ties, and promotes long-term urban resilience.
Among the featured projects is the innovative 'Vardo' by JaK Studio and Evari Bikes, an automotive concept that reimagines modern nomadic living. Inspired by Airstream trailers and traditional Romani vardos, this mobile dwelling features a compact and functional design integrating essential living facilities, sustainable materials, and advanced mobility technologies, including autonomous navigation capabilities. The expandable structure offers flexibility for various uses, representing a vision for mobile and adaptable lifestyle solutions.
In Tirana, Albania, Davide Macullo Architects presents the Green Valley 3 expansion, which marks a refined integration of architecture and landscape. This new phase enriches the existing masterplan with ten new villas and four apartment blocks, carrying forward the initial vision of prioritizing open green spaces and maintaining dialogue with the land's natural contours while developing a clear identity within the overall composition.
The Residencial San Pedro Garza project by Grow Arquitectos in Monterrey, Mexico, redefines urban verticality through contemporary, functional, and sustainable design. Located in San Pedro Garza García, this 28-story residential development features 136 housing units with ample amenities and a carefully designed base that integrates yet conceals parking and common areas. The project sets new standards for vertical living in Monterrey, with thoughtful material selection and strategic views toward the Sierra Madre mountains.
In Athens, Greece, architects Panos Dragonas and Sotiris Theodosopoulos present "Factory Reframed," transforming former industrial shells into a 66-unit housing complex. Once a cluster of garment factories and nut-processing plants, the site now represents a new model of urban living that combines adaptive reuse with sustainable strategies including planted rooftops, green façades, and shared outdoor spaces. This vision respects Athens' industrial past while shaping a more ecological urban future.
The "Type: A Pattern from Unit to Collective" project by Milad Mehdizadeh Studio in Chaloos, Iran, takes a conceptual and experimental approach to housing design. By analyzing social behaviors of houses in northern Iran and extracting patterns from building envelopes, the architects developed a scalable apartment model using decentralized networks translated into a nine-square grid. Realized as a ten-story building on a 330-square-meter site, it proposes a responsive prototype for collective urban living.
Maarc Studio's Roatán Terraced Dwellings in Honduras explores how modular construction and local materials can create contemporary living in harmony with landscape. Set on a tropical hillside overlooking the Caribbean, this thirteen-unit residential development is conceived as part of the Bitcoin-friendly Prospera district on Roatán, rethinking the relationship between architecture, terrain, and community through sustainable design principles.
Addressing accessibility and climate adaptation, NO OFFICE presents "A House in the Delta" in Bhola, Bangladesh. This collective house designed for a small family and live-in caregiver prioritizes accessibility, health, and comfort through passive and active systems for natural ventilation, daylighting, and climate control. Courtyards activate social interaction while providing ventilation and light throughout the structure, merging Western amenities with local building methods.
Finally, INUWA Builders' "REBUILDING DIGNITY" project addresses displacement in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over six million people have been uprooted by armed conflict. This dignified alternative to fragile shelters introduces a passive, modular structure built from steel tubing and recycled plastic panels, designed for intuitive assembly, disassembly, and mobility. The scalable, community-centered design redefines plastic waste as a valuable resource while creating architecture that cultivates resilience and dignity within displaced communities.
Together, these projects reflect a broad spectrum of architectural responses to contemporary housing pressures, exploring multiple approaches including transforming industrial buildings into residential structures, extending existing masterplans through landscape integration, reimagining verticality in dense urban centers, and developing modular prototypes adaptable to changing climates and mobility patterns. The diversity of these unbuilt proposals demonstrates architecture's potential to address global housing challenges while respecting local contexts and promoting sustainable community development.
