Open House International: Sustainable & Smart Architecture and Urban Studies (OHI) is an interdisciplinary research journal in architecture, building technology, housing, urban design and planning.

Aims and scope

Open House International: Sustainable & Smart Architecture and Urban Studies (OHI) is an interdisciplinary research journal in built environment studies speaking to the disciplines and areas of interest in architecture, building technology, housing, urban design and planning. The journal aims at establishing effective links between theory and design and education and practice in these fields. Placing emphasis on international collaboration, and global south/global north dialectics, the key objectives of the journal are to:

Promote research and practice towards addressing the full spectrum of sustainable development and whenever possible relate to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Improve the quality of built environment through encouraging greater sharing of decision making by ordinary people. It also aims at developing the necessary institutional frameworks, which will support the local initiatives of parties in the housing and place production processes.
OHI publishes articles in the following two areas as they relate to the built environment.

Socially and culturally sustainable architecture and urbanism
This area involves a range of topics that include action planning; affordable homes; building and urban design; building design & planning for social sustainability; culture and built form; gender issues in design; habitat agenda; housing planning and production; slum improvement and redevelopment; socio-spatial justice; user participation; vernacular architecture and self-built housing development.
Built environment tectonics and technologies
This area involves topics that include building technologies and materiality; building performance and energy simulation and conservation strategies; environmental planning and design; open building; prefabrication and industrialisation; restoration and conservation technologies; tectonics of traditional and contemporary architecture; and application of information technologies in design and construction processes.