We’re a public talking shop on housing and homelessness. We’re not selling anything, but we are in the business of stories.
Walking through our doors you’ll find an interactive exhibition on housing and homelessness, a radical housing library and a public living room – full of games, toys, books, arts & crafts, sofas and other people for anyone to enjoy, for free.
Oxford has a huge problem with housing and homelessness. We see it in the rising number of rough sleepers on Cornmarket or in the struggle our children have to own their first home or in our sky-rocketing rents. Whilst the impacts of an unfair housing system are clear, the solutions are not.
We believe that good solutions start with great conversations. We believe that change comes from within and that finding ideas that work for everybody means including everybody in creating them.
Luckily for us, Oxford is awash with energy and ideas on housing and homelessness. We have a raft of community projects, student campaign, indefatigable local councillors and enlightened institutions that are all working to fight homelessness. We also have a vibrant community led housing sector, ready and willing to explore alternative approaches to providing housing for those with the most extreme need.
In Open House we have a space for these ideas to meet and to become action.
We’ll be hosting a huge range of events where we’ll welcome experts, activists, community organisers and everyone else, from Oxford and beyond, to help build collaborative and community based solutions to tackling housing and homelessness in our city. We’ll have talks, workshops, film showings, poetry nights, drop in advice sessions, art clubs, reading groups and a regular social space for LGBTQIA+ young people worried about their housing.
Open House is led by local architecture and design collective Transition by Design with support from Aspire Oxford. The project is community-led and volunteer-run project and will be open for one year. We are always keen to hear from groups or individuals who have ideas for events or activities.