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Flexibility and Adaptability of the Living Space to the Changing Needs of
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WMCAUS 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 471 (2019) 072011 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/471/7/072011
Flexibility and Adaptability of the Living Space to the
Changing Needs of Residents
Monika Magdziak 1
1
Bialystok University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, ul. Oskara
Sosnowskiego 11, 15-893 Bialystok, Poland
m.magdziak@pb.edu.pl
Abstract. Today, the need for flexibility in the housing area has become very urgent. It starts to
be an essential feature of architecture. People live in a greater hurry and their needs are constantly
changing. That's why architecture is challenging to meet all users' needs. Designers are
experimenting and creating spaces full of innovative ideas crossing the border in the traditional
approach to house design. This article, based on the examples, explores and systematizes the
subject of flexibility and adaptability of residential architecture. The author discusses the subject
on various levels from the macro to the micro scale, ranging from buildings, their construction,
through interiors, mobile furniture, to modern technologies affecting the ability to easily adapt
the space to the changing needs of users. The flexibility of housing architecture is considered in
the context of the needs of young people living very quickly, but also as adaptability to the
changing lifecycle of contemporary family, or to the needs of the elderly and the disabled people.
Based on the presented examples, the author proves that the flexibility and adaptability of the
living space to the changing needs of residents is a determinant of the times in which we live
now. It is a universal and individual approach at the same time. Flexibility allows users to choose
the most suitable solution from many possible ones and easily or at low costs re-adjust it again,
which is also part of the idea of sustainable development.
1. Introduction
A home, a basic residential unit, shaped over the centuries, is the best model that illustrates changes,
breakthroughs and trends in the approach to design. It is an element that perfectly shows the differences
in lifestyle at the turn of tens and hundreds of years. History shows us how, together with social
development, the inhabitants and the habitat changed. Social changes, acceptance and openness to what
is new and unknown, it influences the increase in the number of experimental projects and innovative
housing models. We can talk about a certain breakthrough in shaping the housing space in a more
flexible way. This is due to greater consciousness of designers and users. but it is also an effect of the
intensification of urban space, which enforces the use of multifunctional and universal solutions in
smaller and smaller flats and shrinking public spaces.
2. The genesis of flexibility - housing architecture in modernism
The idea of flexible architecture is not a discovery of recent years, it is rooted in modernism, and
precisely in the postulate of applying an open plan in to buildings. After the First World War, in the face
of housing deficits, Modernists were inclined to industrial solutions and modular systems, manufactured
on a massive scale. In 1914 Le Corbusier proposed a constructional system, named “Dom-Ino”. It was
a two-story unit, made up of concrete slabs supported on columns and a staircase. The developed
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WMCAUS 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 471 (2019) 072011 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/471/7/072011
prototypes were structural modules, ready frames, which only needed walls and windows. This system
enabled architects to shape the elevation and the interior of the building regardless of the construction
system. Le Corbusier called this spatial flexibility - "plan Libre" [1]. Currently, the structure is the most
popular, and at the same time the simplest and relatively cheap construction solution that favors the
flexibility and adaptability of both the interior and the entire building [2]. The “Dom-Ino” system was
used by Le Corbusier in 1927, in the designs of two buildings at the “Weissenhof Housing Exhibision”
in Stuttgart. The architect used an open construction plan allowing for any layout of functions, designed
sliding walls to connect spaces and built-in furniture with hidden beds. Thanks to these features, the
space has become multifunctional [3].
3. Open plan - the structure to be filled
Modernists' considerations on the free building plan are best illustrated by Le Corbusier's drawing of
„The 4 compositions” from 1929, illustrating the systematization of single-family houses designed by
him. The figure shows the evolution of architectural thought. The architect begins with a freely shaped
plan (point 1-1923 - Maison La Roche), then introduces the limitation of the plan to the form of a
rectangular prism (point 2 - 1927 - Houses at the Weissenhof Housing Exhibision), then introduces the
idea of a free plan of individual floors of the building, incorporated into an independent construction
(point 3 -1928 - Villa Baizeau). Finally, combining all ideas, Le Corbusier creates an illustration to „Five
Points of Architecture” (point 4 - 1929 - Villa Savoy) [4]. Out of four presented compositions, types 3
and 4 are in fact the development of the idea of "Dom-Ino House" and illustrate the full potential of
separating the structural arrangement from the building plan. Villa Baizeau, Carthage, Tunisia,
from1928 (type 3) is not as spectacular as the iconic Villa Savoy, but in a clearer way it illustrates the
freedom of shaping the plan and the independence of individual floors of the building. The project was
created as a result of looking for shade, cold and airflow in a hot climate and was implemented in two
versions. The first more technical version is a kind of prototype, based on the simplicity of building
solutions that can be adapted to the functional and aesthetic expectations of residents. The final project
(second version) is a development of the original idea, which introduced small changes to the internal
layout of the rooms and added individually designed facades [5].
Villa Baizeau project is the prototype of many subsequent modernist ideas for residential housing.
Undoubtedly, it is associated with the project of experimental homes in Kallebäck designed by Erik
Friberger. It is a multi-family building located in Sweden on the southern outskirts of Gothenburg. The
house was built in 1960 as a prototype of flexible and prefabricated solutions of living space [4]. The
building consists of three levels of reinforced concrete platforms supported by pillars and three
staircases, in which electric and sanitary installations were placed. This resulted in tripling the available
area, which was divided into 18 building plots, located on both sides of the staircases. The original idea
was to build individual prefabricated single-family houses of various sizes and shapes, along with
accompanying gardens, located on subsequent levels of the building. In practice, most of the houses
have been expanded to the maximum size at the beginning of their existence, leaving no space for the
garden or later expansion. It did not allow to check the functional possibilities and changes in time of
this innovative solution. Undoubtedly, this project is a visionary idea of vertical garden cities on a
smaller, quite real scale.
4. Adaptable housing - adjustment for age, disability and family life cycle
Today's ideas of flexible space have their foundations in the modernists' thoughts on universal housing
design. Flexible housing space has the ability to adapt to diverse users, but it also changes over time
with the age of the inhabitants and the life cycle of the family. Already in the 1930s, Johannes Van den
Broek, in the face of a shortage of flats and a small space of apartments, made a design attempt to create
flats adaptable to different needs of family members. The main design assumptions took into account
changes in the way of using space during day and night. Architect tried to accommodate more residents
in the apartment using fold-out beds and dividing the space with sliding walls in a way that ensures
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WMCAUS 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 471 (2019) 072011 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/471/7/072011
isolation and privacy during the night. The "De Eendracht" building, which was completed in Rotterdam
in 1937, was very successful is still in use today.
Architects' reflections on the subject of living space adaptable to the family life cycle, which were
important in the 1930s, again interested designers in the 60's and 70's. In 1962, the British Ministry of
Housing and Local Government (MHLG) developed a prototype of a single-family „Adaptable House”
[6]. The project includes changes to the internal division of the home space as a manifestation of the
flexibility and universality. Architects presented a theoretical diagram dividing the family life cycle into
seven stages, within 50 years, from the moment of marriage. Also, with the age and disability, there
were other residents' needs that were included in the project.
In Poland, from the 1950s, Halina Skibniewska worked on a model of a flexible flat, adaptable to the
family life cycle, including the needs of elderly and disabled people. They were so-called „Inflectional
apartments" and "Changeable flats", which were later introduced into residential buildings at the „Sady
Zoliborskie” estate in Warsaw. In apartments, a flexible division of space was applied using a wall units
system with folding interior furnishings [7]. In the 1970s, a program of experimental settlements was
carried out in Poland, taking into account the problems of elderly and disabled people. Prototype projects
were developed as part of the government's research and development program. In addition to adaptable
housing, it was planned to introduce "intergenerational apartments" for multi-generational families, i.e.
small flats connected internally to larger apartments. This solution allowed to live together but separately
for several generations of the family. It was possible to divide or combine space into one large apartment
depending on the number of inhabitants. Unfortunately, only a few projects have been implemented [8].
"Intergenerational apartment" is a step forward and an example showing that space does not have to be
limited. It can grow and shrink by combining and dividing. In the case of a single-family house, it is
always possible to expand the building's volume and add additional space. However, looking for a
flexible, fast and cheap way to enlarge the space or its division in multi-family buildings is much more
difficult.
5. Transformable space - time as the fourth dimension of architecture
Adaptability of the housing space also took the form of its transformability in a short time, taking into
account the fourth dimension of space - time. In 1924, Theo van De-osburg announced the manifesto
"Towards a plastic architecture", in accordance with the postulates of the De Stijl movement. The
manifesto indicated desirable features of architecture, which should be: elemental, formless, open and
should consider space-time aspects. The openness of architecture was to be manifested in the possibility
of dividing and joining spaces depending on functional needs, using dividing and protective surfaces
and transformable elements of equipment. An example illustrating these architectural features is
designed and built in 1924 by Gerrit Rietveld "The Schröder House". It is an archetypal, modifiable
home. It is widely recognized as the architectural icon of the 20th century. The architect designed the
upper floor of the building so that it can be completely reconfigured each day, depending on the needs
of the residents. Instead of traditional walls, Rietveld used sliding partitions. He presented an alternative
to the permanent division of the living space. This project turned over the traditional thinking about
shaping the interior. This extremely sensible and well-designed project was already far into the future.
He was a forerunner of changes in the approach to shaping the space and way of life [9].
Currently, sliding walls are no longer new or something that may come as a surprise. Especially in
very populated cities and large metropolises, where every additional square meter seems to be a
universe, the flexibility of the plan is extremely desirable. That is why many architects, as well as the
residents themselves, take up the subject of flexibility in the housing space, trying to bring added value
to it in the form of variability and flexibility. This applies mainly to small flats inhabited by young
people with open minds, ready to experiment. Around 1983, architect Steven Holl also began his
experiments with sliding, rotating, folding walls. He used them in "Cohen Apartment" in Manhattan, in
"X-Y-Z Apartment" in the tower in "The Museum of Modern Art MOMA" and, above all, in a series of
hotel rooms in the city of Fukuoka, Japan [10]. In apartments, a new guest with specific, different needs
lives every day. In these projects the architect does not only care about the division and variability of
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WMCAUS 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 471 (2019) 072011 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/471/7/072011
space, the main idea is the movement and interaction of man with space. The three-dimensional
apartment becomes a four-dimensional space that changes, evolves over time and constantly adapts to
new users. Similar flexible elements were used in the businessman's apartment in Monte Carlo, designed
by the Lazzarini Pickering studio [11]. However, not only the walls are movable, but also furniture is
its integral part and changes its destiny depending on the situation. The table transforms into a cupboard,
cupboard changes into a screen, screen in to the door. Everything designed in a minimalist, economical
style, not requiring time to keep everything in order. Such space adapts to the modern way of life.
6. Transformation of the form - open / closed architecture
Smooth transformation of architecture is another step in thinking about the flexibility of the living space.
Architect Hans Peter Wörndl decided to present a diverse approach to movement and changes in space.
In 1993, in Australia, he designed a small building as part of a series of exhibitions, workshops and
installations answering the question of strangeness and otherness in space. On the one hand, it is a closed,
cohesive, stable form - a home metaphor, on the other - an element of movement, change and life that
connects with the landscape. „GucklHupf” is a manifesto, a protest against the perception of a house in
a conventional way. The artist gives the opportunity to open the object and expose the interior. The
flexibility of this form is an opportunity to shape the space yourself, adjust it to your own needs [12].
Similar in action and stylistics to "GucklHupf" is developed by Stephen Kanne "Transformable
House". It is a holiday home in Sagaponac, New York, which form can be open when visitors come to
rest and close when they leave. The outer shape of the building, simple, clean, geometric, hides many
possibilities in its complex interior. It changes by sliding, folding and rotating elements and integrates
with the natural environment. The reorganization of the form gives the opportunity to change not only
the appearance, but above all the functions of individual rooms. In the simplicity of action and cubic
form, both projects almost directly associate with the mentioned "Schröder House", but they go much
further. The buildings are modifiable and become an integral part of the surrounding. They combine
stability with mobility [13].
7. Location - portable, modular and autonomous house
Nowadays, more and more portable house designs are being made. They can be transported or moved
by themselves. One of them is "Loftcube" designed by Werner Aisslinger [14]. It has a flexible interior
with sliding walls and multifunctional equipment. However, the most important is the ability to change
the location of the object. "Loftcube" takes up the problem of creating a modern, minimalist living space
for people living temporarily in large, heavily populated cities. The answer is to use the roofs of existing
buildings by putting on them temporary, portable, small flats. In addition, this solution gives you the
opportunity to use the sunniest areas in the city. "Loftcube" is modular. One segment can function alone
or be connected vertically or horizontally. Unfortunately, this is an expensive solution, unavailable to
the average user.
Definitely cheaper, and thus more available alternative, are mass-produced, container boxes inserted
into a modular grid. It is easy to move and combine them. Contemporary architectural practice brings
us a growing number of examples of using modular and prefabricated structures, just like the project of
student houses called "Spacebox". They were created in Delft, Utrecht, Eindhoven, that is in cities where
the largest universities are located. They are small units of not very high standard of living, but for the
needs of young people wanting their own private space it is enough to start to live independently. [15]
A step ahead is the autonomy of a portable home. The Polish company "Artin" designed, patented
and produced a portable home called "Dodo House”. This project is not only a mobile home, but it is
solution completely independent of the surroundings. It is equipped with the latest technologies and
ecological solutions. According to the producer, the house not only saves and stores energy, but also
thanks to the use of wind turbines it produces it. In addition, it does not require connection to the sewage
network as it is equipped with a system of purifying used water. Amazing freedom and no restrictions
in choosing the location of "Dodo House" is its main advantage. Independence from energy producers
and water and sewer connections, make it possible to locate it anywhere we wish. It is a completely real
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WMCAUS 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 471 (2019) 072011 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/471/7/072011
project and there are six variants of the house to choose from, ranging from 23 to 145 square meters.
The price of a house is comparable to the value of flats in a multi-family building [16].
8. Results and discussions
The degree of flexibility depends on how easily and quickly we can make changes. This depends mainly
on the building structure and the size of the available space. On the basis of the presented examples, we
can systematize the types of flexibility depending on its nature and scale of changes. The basic division
includes the ability to change: location, size and layout of the interior. A detailed systematics including
a graphical illustration of individual types of flexibility is shown using a summary scheme (figure 1).
Figure 1. Flexibility systematics - types of flexibility depending on the nature and scale of changes.
It is worth noting that the flexibility and adaptability of space is very often associated with modular
systems and prefabrication. However, it should be remembered that in the 20th century, the modernists
imprisoned their imagination at the moment when they began to limit themselves to design based on a
modular construction grid, which was originally intended to be the road to architectural freedom. It was
a breakthrough in the facade design and gave the opportunity to use an open plan. However, at the
moment when the modernists began to reduce almost everything, and the function became the supreme
factor, the construction grid became a curse, it deprived architecture of all beauty and elegance. The
vision of identical, prefabricated, flexible homes have some advantages such as: affordability,
universality and accessibility for everyone, but it is far from the individuality that we desire so much
today.
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WMCAUS 2018 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 471 (2019) 072011 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/471/7/072011
9. Conclusions
The idea of flexible architecture has been in the field of architects' interests for a long time. It arose from
an authentic need for movement, changes in lifestyle and constantly growing needs. Nowadays, for a
person who uses a portable computer and mobile phone, listens to music from the mini player, stores
documents and photos in a virtual cloud, and for lunch eats instant soup - mobility of objects is everyday
life, and the mobility, adaptability and flexibility of buildings is just another step in the same direction.
Now, when the availability and easiness of communication dominates our lives, the situation of life
transformations is more common. To support this process, we can design so that the environment adapts
itself to the user's needs.
The flexibility and adaptability of residential architecture enable:
• Adaptation of the housing space to the individual needs and preferences of users.
• Adaptation of the same housing space to different numbers of users.
• Adaptation to the family life cycle.
• Adaptation to the needs of elderly and disabled people.
• Changes in the function and way of using the space.
• Introducing the fourth dimension of architecture - time.
• Reducing the usable size by introducing transformation and changing functions.
• Autonomy, mobility and individualization of a residential unit.
• Application of modular and prefabricated solutions.
The flexibility of residential architecture is reflected in the possibility of easy and quick changes in
the division, expansion and arrangement of space, as well as the possibility of reducing the size without
limiting its functionality. Thanks to these features, flexible and adaptable housing architecture is
compatible with postulates of universal, affordable, accessible design and the idea of sustainable
development.
Acknowledgment
The research was carried out within the framework of work No. S/WA/2/16 funded by the polish
Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 471 (2019) 072011 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/471/7/072011
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