Can Modularity and free set up be a solution for today’s housing question.

Housing is taken into account as a basic necessity and as society changes, the standard house causes friction with new demands from new ideals of recent time. People are a lot of doubtless to remain in their homes if they can adapt them, and need to change as a result of the absence of alterations to their dwellings as per their desires. Therefore, applying users’ ideas within the designing and planning processes of the lodging could be a key to determine the relation between people’s expected desires and their forthcoming ones. In this fast-changing world, buildings need to accommodate new patterns of tenancy that weren’t anticipated at the time of its construction. The planning solutions is wide-ranging however categorized into 3 levels of flexibility: re-adjustability by rearranging furniture; re-size ability by shifting partitions and walls; and re-interpretability by dynamic area configuration. One such manner of doing this can be through flexible housing.

The following are some examples of flexible housing around the world:

What is Flexible Housing
Image Sources:
Flexible Housing ©Pinterest

1. Ancient Japanese house

In Japanese ancient design, sliding doors have the conclusiveness of separating areas within the house. As a result, multi-functional areas are created by separating them. Also, the rooms were sized as per the carpets and there was minimal use of furniture hence there, we no tags to spaces and each space could be interpreted differently by the end user.

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Traditional Japanese house ©www.japanobjectdotcom.com
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Traditional Japanese house ©Archinect
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Traditional Japanese house ©Pinterest

2. Capsule tower

Nakagin Capsule Tower in 1972, it was the primary capsule design style. The module was created with the intention of housing traveling businessmen that worked in central Tokyo during the week. it’s an epitome for design of property and recycle ability, as every module is fitted in to the central core and replaced or changed once necessary.
All items of the pods were factory-made in an exceedingly manufactory in Shiga Prefecture then transported to the positioning by truck. The pre-assembled interior options a circular window, bed and loo, and is provided with a TV, radio and timer. Hoisted by a crane, the capsules were inserted within the shipping containers by use of a crane, and so fixed to the concrete core shaft.

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Capsule Tower ©Archdaily
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Capsule Tower ©Archdaily
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Capsule Tower ©Archdaily

3. Habitat 67

Habitat 67, the unconventional experiment in prefab, stacked town lodging, is that the city’s most picturesque engineered inheritance from that exciting time. The thought for the housing complicated, that developed out of architect Moshe Safdie’s thesis at McGill University, is as intriguing currently because it was then: All the amenities of suburban residential life (openness, privacy, access to greenery) set in association with urban context. It is a mixture of design-savvy residents have each tailored and maintained its areas.

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habitat 67 ©Medium
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habitat 67 ©Medium
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Habitat-67_Courtesy of Safdie Architects ©Sharp Magazine
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Montreal_QC_Habitat67 ©Archdaily

4. The Weissenhof dwelling by Mies van der rohe

In this case the use of the free set up and a lot of particularly of the wide structural grid helped the architect to attain an excellent degree of flexibility and customization. With simply 2 bearing columns within the interior of the units he managed to eliminate from the within unneeded walls, going away the likelihood to use the inside area in an exceedingly a lot of open manner. Another special feature of the area is that each one the services are organized around one core.

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Weissenhof Apartment house, Mies van der Rohe, Stuttgart, Germany © www.wikipedia.com
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Weissenhof Apartment © Pinterest
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Weissenhof Apartment © Pinterest

5. Diagoon homes – jazzman Hertzberger

The units as unreal within the original program are aligned on four major axes, the repetitive sequence of the module, that consists by 2 reflected living units, is typically broken by a modification within the rhythm and within the orientation of the homes or the various aggregation of the smaller modules. sadly, solely eight of the expected units were engineered, 3 of them are turned by 90° to the others, showing however the flexibleness of the planning permits additionally completely different urban layouts. essentially the house consists of a structural skeleton during which the sole mounted parts are 2 services cores organized around a central void that gives window to any or all floors: the primary core accommodate the way, the doorway and therefore the grooming. The other is for the room at the bottom floor and therefore the rest room at the primary one. The interiors are freed from vertical partitions and on each floor the users will organize and prepare as they please.

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Diagoon Houses – Herman Hertzberger ©ahhdotnl
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Diagoon Houses – Herman Hertzberger © ahhdotnl
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Diagoon Delft, Herman, Hertzberger www.wikiedia.com

6. Cala Domus, PCKO’s Architects, UK

The family of houses has been developed with an innovative ‘living wall’ feature. This component accommodates and distributes all central building services and plant. The living wall is also adaptable for additional future uses as technologies change over time. Various service terminals positioned within the living wall are harmonised in appearance by circular, coloured distancing plates, making an attractive feature out of the utilitarian. Sunspaces, glazed porches, verandas and glazed ‘pockets’ connect directly to the living walls to facilitate the transfer of solar gain to the rest of the house.

The homes are distinctive and colourful, combining glazed balconies, coloured render and traditional brick. The construction method used is a highly insulated off-site manufactured timber frame and roof panel envelope. The homes are set out in pedestrian-friendly streets and lanes, all homes are within 400m of a bus route and within 60m of parkland.

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Cala Domus ©www.ahrdotcodotuk.com
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Cala Domus ©www.ahrdotcodotuk.com
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Cala Domus ©www.ahrdotcodotuk.com

7. Quinta Monroy / ELEMENTAL

This project originates from the necessity to accommodate one hundred families that for nearly thirty years occupied central portion of the Chilean town of Iquique. A row classification, even though very restrained would permit to accommodate solely sixty-six families. moreover, the matter with this classification is that whenever a family desires to feature new area to the house, this might have blocked access to light and ventilation to the opposite families and would have forced the circulation into personal rooms. during this case the proper answer to the issues of future development and restricted budget is to use a high-rise building classification organized in an exceedingly row.

The home is really split in half: the primary one, of virtually forty money supply on 3 levels was completed by the developers, the last half of constant surface quantity wasn’t engineered in the least, it’s if truth be told the void area between 2 units. Its role is that the real key for the success of the planning. This “unfinished” area is in impact meant to be engineered and customised by the tenants which might expand the house then increase their values consequently to their desires, family changes and work opportunities.

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Quinta Monroy / ELEMENTAL ©Stringio
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Quinta Monroy / ELEMENTAL ©Stringio
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Quinta Monroy / ELEMENTAL ©Stringio

8. Next21, Osaka, Japan

Units were designed by thirteen completely different architects. every unit’s interior and exterior layout was freely designed at intervals a system of coordinative rules for positioning varied parts. The generous floor-to-floor height allowed for the introduction of utility distribution area higher than ceiling and below raised floors; thus, ducts and piping to miss the beams while not use of “sleeves” to the most horizontal utility zones below exterior corridors or “street within the air”. NEXT21 was made as an entire, however designed in such the simplest way that its varied subsystems is adjusted with improved autonomy. to check this objective, one 5th-story unit has been well restored. All work was accomplished from at intervals the unit, while not system, minimizing disruption to connected inhabitants. ninetieth of the materials removed were with success redeployed. The project continues to explore new ways for building urban housing, experimental infill systems*, to accommodate variable lifestyles with reduced energy consumption. The second part of NEXT21 includes renovating different units, together with a replacement cluster of inhabitants, and continued analysis of the energy system.

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Next21, Osaka ©www.habrakendot.com
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Next 21 ©www.carovandijk.com
Next 21 ©www.idotpinimgdot.com
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Next21 ©www.buildingdot.org
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Next21, Osaka ©www.googleimages.com
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Next21, Osaka ©www.googleimages.com
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Next21, Osaka ©www.habrakendot.com
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Next21, Osaka ©www.habrakendot.com

 9. One Tower, Brisbane

A determinate kind of indeterminate occupation – it’s at the same time meant as associate urban unit and utility, designed as a sturdy and labile set of ‘subspaces’ at intervals a singular volume. The tower could be a typological plan initiated within the style method via the first acknowledgement of a web site at intervals the positioning.
Designed by Phorm design + style with Silvia Micheli and Antonius Moulis, is associate addition to associate existing inner-city house. rather than adding to the house within the ancient manner, one area Tower is a detached tent rigorously designed with associate open layout. the additional area is tailored to produce many alternatives uses to suit the requirements of its inhabitants. This innovative style, that provides much-needed flexibility and won a Queensland design Award.

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One Room Tower ©www.phormdot.com
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One Room Tower ©www.phormdot.com
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One Room Tower ©www.phormdot.com
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One Room Tower ©www.phormdot.com

10. Progressive Housing, Peru

The national social housing competition was organized by the Peruvian Ministry of Housing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Engineered Wood Association, and the Mi Vivienda Fund. The jury awarded innovative and economical proposals that have the likelihood to grow, with a climatology and eco-friendly focus.
The proposal from architects Rafael Arana Parodi, Carlos the Jackal Suasnabar Martínez, Amed Aguilar Chunga burmeisteri, and Santiago Nieto Valladares, won the skilled class, wherever over three hundred proposals were submitted by completely different groups nationwide. Likewise, it absolutely was awarded associate laurels within the eco-sustainable class for making comfort within the face of atmospheric condition with high star incidence and high precipitation. Next, we tend to gift the main points of the project.

The thought of the housing module is predicated on providing a nucleus of noble material with basic services, that is complemented by a picket structure that may eventually contain the remainder of the rooms.

The nucleus contains the social space of the house, the room, and therefore the rest room, that ar the sole elements of the house that accommodates the water and voidance networks, and therefore the main electrical network. The nucleus features a cross circulation that enables the house to grow on its four sides. The progressive stages ar standard and versatile and allow the owner to decide on their use and therefore the sort of material for the end. The projected style makes the progressive growth of the house invariably orderly since it’s restricted by the roof, making a consolidated urban image.

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Incremental Housing, Peru ©Archdaily
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Incremental Housing, Peru ©Archdaily
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Incremental Housing, Peru ©Archdaily
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Incremental Housing, Peru ©Archdaily
Author

Renuka Shinde, an architect turned environmental strategist loves voicing her opinions regarding her perception of architecture which, considering where you are reading this is, makes perfect sense. She is an IGBC AP and currently works as a green building consultant in Mumbai. Having worked as a set designing intern, a design architect and now a writer she believes life should be lived in experiences.