Flexible Housing

Flexible housing is housing that can adjust to the changing needs of the user and accommodate new technologies as they emerge. Flexible Housing by Jeremy Till and Tatjana Schneider examines the past, present and future of this important subject through over 160 international examples. Specially commissioned plans, printed to scale, together with over 200 illustrations and diagrams provide fascinating detail and allow direct visual comparisons to be made. Combining history, theory and design the book explains the social and economic benefits that can be achieved and shows the various ways it has been and can be delivered. The book ends with an accessible guide to how flexible housing might be designed and constructed today to achieve adaptable and ultimately sustainable buildings. Housing designers, housing managers and students of architecture, construction and housing will find this book of immense value both as a comprehensive reference and design manual.

Radical Housing explores the planning, technical, financial, health-based and social background for developing multi-generational homes and co-living. Abundantly illustrated with case studies and plans from projects across the UK and abroad, this book inform sand inspires the delivery of alternative approaches to affordable and flexible housing, and is an essential text for architecture practitioners, students, and community groups.

Its methods are targeted to housing production in places where resources are scarce, demand is high, urgency is acute, and where change and uncertainty are a way of life. The book shows that, under these conditions, efficient practice depends on methods that promote rather than hinder local action.

This book offers the first comprehensive overview of alternative approaches to architectural practice. At a time when many commentators are noting that alternative and richer approaches to architectural practice are required if the profession is to flourish, this book provides multiple examples from across the globe of how this has been achieved and how it might be achieved in the future. Particularly pertinent in the current economic climate, this book offers the reader new approaches to architectural practice in a changing world. It makes essential reading for any architect, aspiring or practicing.

"Prefab Architecture . . . is beyond theory, and beyond most of what we think we know about pods, containers, mods, and joints. This book is more than 'Prefabrication 101.' It is the Joy of Cooking writ large for the architecture and construction industries." From the Foreword by James Timberlake, FAIA THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE ON PREFAB ARCHITECTURE FOR ARCHITECTS AND CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS Written for architects and related design and construction professionals, Prefab Architecture is a guide to off-site construction, presenting the opportunities and challenges associated with designing and building with components, panels, and modules. It presents the drawbacks of building in situ (on-site) and demonstrates why prefabrication is the smarter choice for better integration of products and processes, more efficient delivery, and realizing more value in project life cycles. In addition, Prefab Architecture provides: A selected history of prefabrication from the Industrial Revolution to current computer numerical control, and a theory of production from integrated processes to lean manufacturing Coverage on the tradeoffs of off-site fabrication including scope, schedule, and cost with the associated principles of labor, risk, and quality Up-to-date products featuring examples of prefabricated structure, enclosure, service, and nterior building systems Documentation on the constraints and execution of manufacturing, factory production, transportation, and assembly Dozens of recent examples of prefab projects by contemporary architects and fabricators including KieranTimberlake, SHoP Architects, Office dA, Michelle Kaufmann, and many others In Prefab Architecture, the fresh approaches toward creating buildings that accurately convey ature and expanded green building methodologies make this book an important voice for adopting change in a construction industry entrenched in traditions of the past.

Cities are not only places that house buildings; they are also spaces where cultural and social relations are built and developed. These properties must be taken into consideration when constructing and renovating new housing. Different methodologies can be used in order to create new flexible solutions for mass housing units’ interior spaces with the aim of improving their adaptability by using a user-centered approach. Re-Coding Homes Through Flexible Interiors: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an optimal resource that investigates how interior design models can transform existing spaces into more flexible and functional housing units while also increasing the functional value and spatial quality of living spaces in social housing. The book specifically discusses how genetic algorithms, a generative design approach, are used to solve nonlinear design problems. It also provides results that can be referenced based on actual domain data, which can be used as references to other architectural and interior design approaches. Featuring research on topics such as housing design and mass housing, this book is ideally designed for architects, engineers, interior designers, furniture designers, construction companies, architecture firms, practitioners, academicians, students, and researchers.