Fluxhouse Cooperatives are buildings with live-work spaces for artists. In his manifesto titled “A Fluxhouse Plan for an Artist Condominium in New York City” Fluxhouse founder George Maciunas wrote:
While it has been recognized for some time that New York City is one of the leading art centers of the world, with probably the largest artists population, it is considerably less well known that the city suffers from a severe shortage of economical working space for artists. In part this shortage is due to the moderate means of the average professional artists and the artists’ special space requirements….
But the scarcity of economical working space is part of the general problem arising from urban obsolescence and decay. Large areas of the central city, zoned for commercial and light manufacturing use, were constructed some time ago…
And the process of obsolescence and decay here continue without obstruction. Nevertheless there are many buildings in such areas that are architecturally sound and potentially valuable if considered from the point of view of radically altered use.
(excerpt as quoted in Illegal Living)