Adaptive Housing
What stood out to me the most this week was when we were talking about John Habraken and rethinking our role in design. We discussed how almost all housing was self-built until the 19th century. No one told anyone what had to go where in homes until we stepped in and started designing them/assigning roles to spaces inside the house. I don’t think it’s our job to tell people what the spaces in their home should be. When we design, I think it would be more appropriate to leave the spaces flexible in some aspect so that they can be transformed as needed.
One topic I have always been interested in is exploring the idea of houses that adapt to the user’s specific needs but can be transformed back to the original function when a new owner comes along. As it stands today, houses are so impersonal, and they just act as a space that you pass through until you move to the next house. I think that houses should be designed to adapt to our needs as we age, have families, etc. Instead, it seems like if your needs aren’t met in your house, you have to move to a new place that will fit your new needs.
There was one architect I studied during my undergrad, the name of them escapes me but they had an interesting approach to design. They would design spaces and then sell it to the client but not offering any sort of programming to them. One particular building that was constructed had a space on the second floor that was a kind of tree house, and the owners ended up making that their kitchen. I remember the architects saying that they didn’t think someone would put that space there, but their clients really ended up loving the spaces they created. Residential architecture is rather enigmatic and exciting
ReplyDeleteUnprogrammed spaces like nooks are some of my favorite spaces in previous apartments I've lived in. Fitting in pieces of furniture or decor into unprogrammed spaces often leads to some of my favorite conversation starters (think "why did you take this cutout under the stairs and put an armchair and a Chili's poster there")
DeleteAdaptive housing has always been interesting to me and something that I think a lot of us could benefit from. I like making a space feel like home with furniture and decor but changing the actual space to fit your needs would really make it feel like home and I think make it harder to leave and move on to the next house.
ReplyDeleteI think this topic is extremely important in our world now with the need for housing everywhere. In apartment complexes now the residents are pretty diverse (for example, a family with kids living in the same complex as college students) and come and go pretty frequently in this setting. The ability for these spaces to be flexible and customizable would give a big boost to the quality of life of it's respective residents, whether it be for a family or young adults.
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