THE NOTION OF BECOMING IN MASS-HOUSING COMPLEXES; THE CASE OF MORTAFA HOUSING, MASHHAD, IRAN

Mass-housing projects are forming the urban morphology of suburbs in metropolises, especially in developing countries, which are struggling with housing shortages. Not only are social housing and low-income complexes built in the suburban areas, but a considerable number of luxurious gated housing estates are also built on the outskirts of the cities. Over time, projects and their social/physical contexts start to change, as the borders of cities expand and the suburban housing is merged with and become parts of the main city, while residents experience judgmental social challenges and rapid changes of spatial structures. Problems arise when the paradox between the complex and the context becomes so critical that it requires various actions in any type of urban intervention such as renovating the physical appearance, gentrification, re functioning or even demolishing the complex and constructing a new one. Refunctioning of a housing complex is rarely an option, due to the inflexible spatial organization of a residential complex. Renovation requires a considerable budget and gentrification has its socio-cultural contradictions. In most cases apartments have been sold to owners, therefore even the demolishing of the complexes seems impossible. This decisional dead-end is the result of considering places as fixed entities and neglecting the becoming notion of mass-housing complexes throughout the decades of their lifetime.