Abstract
This 'paper' (now post) pursues the investigation
into the current and future position of flexible, adaptive architecture in
response to social, environmental and economic factors. It emphasises the
overarching need for this shift in architectural design, explores its current
position, and lastly demonstrates the technological potential of the built
environment becoming humanly responsive. It highlights distinct areas for
exploration and welcomes advances in smart technologies for the incorporation
in to our architecture.
Introduction
Buildings have previously generated a
pre-conceived notion of being static yet we are currently in a transitional
phase towards a more dynamic architectural environment. Buildings are being
conceptualised less as concrete, steel and brick elements but more as a series
of pro-formative, responsive elements; energy systems, air systems, lighting
systems, acoustic systems all with the intention of increasing our comforts as the
users and occupiers. (Schwitter, 2008) Flexible
architecture is that which can adjust to changing needs and patterns be it
social, environmental or economical. It embraces the ability to make changes
pre-occupation, yet most importantly has the potential to allow the building to
change and adapt over its lifetime (Schneider & Till, 2007) .
Recently we have seen ample reasons for
incorporating the concept of flexibility and adaptability into our built
environment on a worldwide basis. Escalating from the idea of flexibility being
used to manage issues caused through social, economic and environmental
factors, I decided to explore this further. I have identified from my reading, four
significant elements that work in a cyclic motion, two of which act as
catalysts: the expanding city and climate change. And two which offer plausible
solutions: recycling and reaction.
This Paper will, using a systematic
approach, identify and appraise past, current and future urban developments
from around the world in order to recognise and challenge limits of
adaptability within architecture and the built environment.
The Expanding City
Urbanisation is defined as an increase
in urban population faster than the increase in total population; the 21st
century is likely to be dominated by urbanisation, kept on the move by
expanding cities. Studying data
from previous decades, experts have developed growing concerns towards
statistics and demographic trends that show urban populations in many cities
across the world seem to be rising. (Genske & Ruff, 2006)
At the millennium it was proven that
the world’s cities are growing in total by more than 60 million people, the
equivalent to the entire UK population, each year and by 2015, the UN predict
that there will be 358 ‘million cities’, that is cities with a population of
one million or more: worryingly, no less than 153 will be in Asia. It is also
predicted that 27 mega-cities of more than 10 million inhabitants will also
have been established and by 2025, two thirds of the world’s population,
approximately 5 billion people, will be living in cities. (Hall &
Pfeiffer, 2000)
The housing demand of an aging society further stimulates
excessive urban sprawl and by 2030, it is predicted approximately 16% of the
world’s population will be older than 60, with the anticipation that one in
three could be over this age in Europe. (Hall & Pfeiffer, 2000) Being equipped to
adapt for issues such as an ageing population is vital. Integrated housing
refers to multi-generational homes that offer older people an environment that
encourages their integration in to society rather than away from it. The idea of “aging in
place”, in which elders remain in their own homes and communities is becoming
an increasingly popular alternative to specialised senior
facilities (Schittich, 2007) . Simple design ideas can ultimately
result in facilitating a fit between a house’s constraints and the needs of the
occupant (Friedman, 2002) . A UK government
scheme currently being promoted is the lifetime homes concept. Originally an
idea developed nearly twenty years ago in an attempt to design a home that
offers not gimmicks that people do not need, but features that make the home
flexible enough to meet whatever comes along in life. It now sets out sixteen
parameters that go above and beyond ‘Part M: Access to and Use of Buildings’
from the building regulations. Though often not even noticed by its occupants (Sopp & Wood, 2001) , many of these 16
items do offer the ability for someone to stay in their home for the duration
of their life. Standards and conditions will change and develop but with the
simple design features introduced in a lifetime home it means making
alterations or adapting spaces to suit the user’s needs are easily achievable.
Changing cities also offer opportunities, not only to architects and government
schemes but also to new forms of land and resource management. Urbanisation and
the growth of cities have been accompanied by the maturation of slums, home to
nearly a third of the entire world population. Residents have to choose between
health and safety, and a need for shelter. The conditions faced by slum
occupants often include poor housing, poor access to clean water and sanitary,
overcrowding and building on land that is unsafe and unsuitable for
habitation.
Dharavi, Mumbai is the largest slum in India and one of the
biggest in the world. Mumbai is a city with approximately 14 million
inhabitants, and Dharavi is located within close proximity to the financial
district. It occupies just one square mile yet has a population, officially, of around 600,000 though
this is realistically closer to one million. They reside in approx. 100,000
makeshift homes, with one of the world’s highest population densities at more
than 18,000 people per acre. (Apte, 2008)
Dharavi is however unique and vibrant, it is self-sustaining and has a thriving
industrial business resulting in 80% employment across the Slum. The street
also is more than just a thoroughfare - it is a space of transaction, dwelling,
eating, working, gathering and recreation as well as transition. The same place
can change identity many times throughout a day. (Shepard, 2007)
“Every morning this
industrious population rolls up its beds and in an instant transforms tens of
thousands of living spaces into an informal network of freelance workshops,
making and selling almost anything imaginable”
Kevin McCloud, 2011.
The overwhelming density does not allow
for any space to be wasted – on trains, under bridges or in between buildings. Nor
does Dharavi allow for any material to be wasted, recycling is a way of life,
not just to construct their homes but as an income and is an industry that
employs 250,000 people right across the Slum. 4,000 tonnes of waste is recycled
every day and generates $72 million per year. This along with the potential
methods of street proficiency practised both individually and cooperatively by
its residents should be something we commend and learn from. With the Slum
being positioned in a prime location for development it is constantly under
pressure from the rich, however if anything this place should be replicated,
not replaced. (Apte, 2008) This flexibility and
adaptability is something we just cannot apprehend in the civilised western
world where space is gaining premium and unemployment is increasing. The close
proximity between jobs and high density, low-rise housing results in an
organically developed urban form that is walkable, community-oriented, and
network-based something that we are striving to achieve in the UK with
‘Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing’. What does seem to be evident is a lack
of preciousness towards the built environment and surrounding areas, perhaps a
bold statement, but in turn, practically, this allows it to continue its
construction over time, as and when it is required, in effect creating a
‘living city’.
Recycling
Change always bears opportunities. In
the case of transforming cities, these opportunities must relate to the notion
of sustainable development. The development of our cities to meet the rising
population demands must be carried out in a way that does not impact the
world’s resources for our future generations. Dharavi is setting benchmarks for
recycling waste, however this chapter looks at recycling more specifically and
primarily that of existing spaces and structures for creative re-use. When
architecture outlives its purpose in which it was originally designed for, it
has in the past been felt that it is time for it to make way and a new building
to be put up in its place. This should not be the case and rather than
demolishing existing structures we should be looking at inspired ways to re-use them to solve contemporary needs. The definition of
regeneration is ‘to renew’ or ‘impart new life to something’. In the context of
urban regeneration this includes bringing derelict land and buildings back into
use and improving environmental quality.
The United Kingdom’s cities are
littered with derelict sites once of industrial activity. The re-use of these
sites does not have to be permanent in order to have an impact on the
environment and its surroundings. With the Olympic Games heading to East London
in 2012, Roger Wade, of designer clothing brand ‘Boxfresh’ felt it was the
perfect time to launch his latest idea, Boxpark, a ‘pop-up’ shopping mall
located on a brownfield site in Shoreditch. The Bishopsgate Goods Yard site
opened its doors in August 2011 as the world’s first shopping mall to be
constructed entirely using recycled shipping containers. The idea makes use of
a site at a time when all eyes will be on the East of London, not only
promoting the area but also the creative re-use of shipping containers. The
mall is split in two halves, retail at ground level and a mixed-use area
upstairs including cafes, restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries and
exhibition space. No high-street brands can be found on site either,
encouraging the rise of new independent designers to demonstrate their
innovative abilities to a wider audience. Boxpark, described as ‘Shoreditch’s
answer to a 2011 shopping mall’ has identity, uniqueness and something that
distinguishes itself from any other mall, within which you could quite easily
forget where you were sometimes as they all look the same. It also acts as a
cultural hub to the area, collating an eclectic mix of ages and tastes to
experience these small spaces that have each been tailored individually by
their designer. The development displays grand scale recycling on a level that
has not been seen in the world today and even better is that next year it will
be on show to millions of visitors from all around the world. It makes use of
an empty site in an expanding city, enhances the local economy, uses a
completely recycled structural element and further still creates a vibrant
social core encouraging interaction and life, a fantastic example of what can
be achieved through recycling.
The 2012 Olympic Games pose very exciting times for the United Kingdom both on the track and off it. Frequently Olympic hosts spend millions or in the UK’s case, billions, on developing arenas and the necessary infrastructure in order for the event to run smoothly and often more importantly so that the country is shown in the best way to the billions that tune in to watch the games. But my question was ‘what would we do with an 80,000 seat athletic stadium once the games have finished?’… in many cases the stadium and the money it cost to build is surplus to anyone’s needs. However, the Olympic Park Legacy Company has worked tirelessly to develop a plan for what happens to our facilities when the games are over. Firstly it should be noted that 98% of the new facilities to be used for the games have been built by British companies, equating to 1,400 contracts and an estimated £6 billion worth of business
Climate Change
Climate change is an issue of global significance, since the beginning
of the 20th century, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has
increased, but it is impossible to determine how much this increase is due to
human activities. That said, in 2004 over a quarter of the UK’s carbon dioxide
emissions come from the energy that we use to heat, light and run our homes. (Department for Communities and Local Government,
2006)
In the
last decade, there were three times more weather-related natural catastrophes
in the world than in the 1960s, including heat waves, floods, droughts and
forest fires. All these types of events have a big human and economic cost. (European Commission for Climate Change, 2011) Avoiding a
possible global crisis that may be caused by climate change necessitates us to
reduce global warming or greenhouse gas emissions across the world by half by
the middle of the current century. By changing patterns and using energy more
responsibly, we can reduce the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases that
drive climate change. (London 2012, 2009)
Although flexibility and adaptability
has been referred to mostly in this paper as an architectural concept, it is
also important to understand how the construction industries and a building’s
occupant’s attitude and state of mind is
hugely influential in the total embodied energy of a building. This chapter
will briefly explain using psychological theories, possible reasons for the
current condition of our built environment in the western world and the effect
that this is potentially having on the speeding up of climate change. In 1872, Friedrich Nietzsche, a German
philosopher, wrote the book ‘The Birth of Tragedy’, and in this book he talked
of two cultural perspectives based on ancient Greek mythology, Apollonian and
Dionysian. The Apollonian view requires everything to be crisp,
intellectualised and perfect, in construction; plumb, square, level and
centred. Whilst the Dionysian belief is open to interpretation, tolerant of the
organic and resourceful. The issue lies with the Apollonian need for consistency,
every perception we have must tally with the ones we had like it before, when
this is not the case, something is wrong and we become disorientated. This is
very much the attitude of our modern culture and in turn imposes these demands
on the way our environment is constructed, which can result in the process
becoming very wasteful when something doesn’t line up with a recognised
pattern. A good example of this might be when a wall of glass is being
constructed, but one of the window panes has a small crack in it. Instantly
this pane of glass would be removed and thrown on the skip to be taken away and
dumped with no thought towards any other uses for it, or people who may find
uses for it, but because at that point the small crack meant it did not fit
perfectly in the Apollonian perspective, it was no good (Phillips, 2010) . This has to change if we are to reduce
the emissions produced within the construction sector. What may also be
necessary is a restructuring of the current state of Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs. Housing has become a commodity and right now for many people self-esteem
and vanity is on the same level of significance as basic needs – shelter,
water, food etc. (Phillips, 2010) It would be
ill-advised to suggest a shift fully towards a Dionysian perspective however,
in order to become more sustainable, in order to combat climate change and in
order to preserve the natural world for what it is for generations to come then
a change in attitudes and behaviour is inescapable. We have the technologies to
help aid change and to help us respond to an ever changing and demanding
environment, but we must make efforts to design and think in a way that
coincides with these technologies and elevates them from merely a standalone,
bolt on gadget, and encourages reaction and correspondence with our conscience.
Reaction
It is believed by many that design has a great influence on
people’s quality of life, yet nowadays this influence is unfortunately more
often a negative one. A primary motivator for the design of our new buildings
needs to focus on creating a design solution that is flexible and adaptive at
any scale, and most importantly, responsive and intelligently active with
respect to the changing individual and climatic context. (Magnoli,
Bonanni, Khalaf, & Fox, 2001) The current built
environment in many cities creates segregation and self-segregation,
contributing to social exclusion. Neighbourhoods
commonly face high unemployment rates and lack space for any creative industry.
(King, 2011)
Affordable housing alone does not respond to the needs of the environment and
just as boarded up shops and vandalised walls weaken an area, creating social
diversity and sustaining livelihoods can be achieved through a flexible,
responsive architecture.
Reactive,
responsive architecture can come in countless forms and be the solution to many
different issues however the following example on a very simple level addresses
problems of an economic, social and environmental context. Completed in late 2010, the Live Work Home, by Cook + Fox
Architects, considers the longevity and livelihood of a shrinking city in the
state of New York, affected by the migration of significant industry away from
the area throughout the 20th century. Essentially what I would describe as a
small modern bungalow, the simple and flexible construction of the Live Work
Home was designed to address a range of uses and allows for a lifetime of
waste-free adaptation. Constructed using a column-free structure with sliding
doors and mobile partitions, the 130 square metre project reconsiders the
assumed definition of “home” for a new, urban context. Based on the following
quote
“Our
beds are empty two-thirds of the time. Our living rooms are empty seven-eighths
of the time. Our office buildings are empty one-half of the time. It’s time we
gave this some thought.” -Buckminster Fuller, 1970.
An open, linear plan was
created to achieve the greatest possible flexibility at the least expense and
to allow residents to “age in place,” as mentioned earlier, encouraging
long-term residence and intergenerational living. Further to this idea, notions
of healthy living concentrating on our innate
human need to connect with the natural world are served as a response to the
cities climate and ecology. The city’s long, light-starved winters make using
natural daylight a top priority, the dwelling is orientated to maximize solar
exposure, along with direct and diffused daylight from light-tubes penetrating
the roof. A perforated screen wraps the entire building and works along the
western and northern facades to bounce daylight into the house, as well as filtering
light through adjustable rotating elements. The screen also features a large,
garage-type front door, which can fold up to create an opening that doubles as
a front porch. This space creates an
ethic of “eyes on the street” to instil residents with a feeling of safety and
engagement with the neighbourhood. (King, 2011) This simple,
affordable piece of architecture sets precedents as to how adaptable,
responsive buildings should be designed. It demonstrates components that react
specifically to its locations context in a simple yet innovative manner to
which future developments should learn from.
Architecture that is designed to make use of fewer resources
and adapt efficiently to challenging site requirements is particularly relevant
to an industry that currently, as described earlier, is increasingly aware of
its environmental responsibilities. (Magnoli, Bonanni, Khalaf, & Fox, 2001) Right now
architectural literature is abundant with buildings that claim to be products
with a strong environmental agenda. Yet, with closer inspection, few of these
buildings are really as “environmental” as they claim. An environmentally-responsive architecture is not a fixed ideal, but an
embryonic concept that must be redefined and re-evaluated with every new
project. The formation of environmental responsiveness should like the previous
example, relate to its occupants and their activities, to its location, and to
varying changes in climate. (Yannas, 2003)
One piece of deployable architecture that responds directly
to the needs of disaster victims, and specifically those in Haiti is that of Andres Duany, of Duany Plater-Zyberk &
Co. In January 2010 Haiti was victim to an earthquake that measured 7.0 on the
Richter scale. According to official estimates 316,000 people lost their lives
with 300,000 injured, over 97,000 homes were destroyed and 188,000 homes
damaged in southern Haiti alone. (National Earthquake Information Centre, 2010) The situation was
critical, more than 100,000 were left homeless, and it called for radical
measures to ensure the health and safety of these people was intact. Many
designs for disaster zone shelters have failed in previous years and will no
doubt continue into the future, however Duany’s approach to the issue appeared
responsive and logical.
The design uses an innovative new structural panel system by
‘Innovida’ that provides a reassuring resistance to both hurricanes and
earthquakes. The design also makes use of the skills possessed by the locals in
order the construct the units and it is estimated that the average unit should
take no longer than half a day to put up. The master plan for the site was
produced in a way that accounts for 726 beds per acre; streets divide the
development providing semi-public forecourts. Shelter units are in clusters of
4 but each unit has its own private courtyard and outdoor bathroom. For those
singles or partners who are not in need of an entire unit, rooms are available
to rent. (Joseph, 2010) In order to respond accurately to
climate, location and occupant needs, detailed research was carried out. For these shelters to prove successful and
set them apart from previous generic attempts the design had to be tailored
specifically for the highly complex cultural and climatic environment. From
family structures to the way they like to eat, the development was designed to
offer a comfortable dwelling that kept a disruption of habits to a minimum.
Designs for deployable structures to be used in disaster zones have for a long
time been non-specific and therefore not entirely effective in becoming truly
responsive to the issue in hand. Once again, simple measures, extensive
research and effective design allowed for Duany’s concept to become successful
and change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Conclusion
Evidence of adaptable architecture being adopted on a
bespoke level has been in place for many years, however movements towards
larger scale, mass productions have yet to take off. What this paper has
highlighted is the enormous effect it can have on our built environment and in
turn the way we live, work and play.
Making alterations or adapting spaces
to suit occupant’s needs can be easily achievable when designed in to a
building. Construction over time, as and when it is required, combined with components that react specifically to a locations
context, strive towards creating a ‘living city’. The measures we take do not need
to be complex either, simple, innovative design backed up by extensive research
and a mind set on preserving our world for future generations can be the
difference.
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