NEW LIVING, NEW HOUSING, NEW SYSTEMS FOR THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

The state of housing in Europe is rapidly evolving, as living needs are changing due to demographic fluctuations and work and family dynamics. Real estate market investments have been diversifying the housing offer, mainly towards short-term, flexible (spatial, functional, lease contracts) for rental accommodations. Among these new perspectives, the “house as a service” model, which incorporates both specific housing and residences or hotels features, is emerging. Starting from the socio-demographic dynamics and rapidly changing market trends, this contribution argues that, in order to renew current housing models, design should include technical-constructive and functional-standardizing aspects to foresee possible spatial and functional transformations over time, in order to satisfy the multiple needs of users and stakeholders. The research deals with the evolution of living spaces in Europe and the added value stemming from industrialized processes and dry assembly technologies, in terms of social, environmental, economic, and operational benefits. The research explores modularity as a design tool, complying with the multiple regulatory requirements of different programs, to pursue flexible and transformable housing solutions. Case studies, design tools, and operational models for the regeneration of the built environment are disclosed to overcome the concept of irreversibility, in order to achieve a “continuous functional convertibility.” By applying the principle of “anticipating decisions” and the design tool of “modular dimensional coordination” (where the module is not only spatial, but an ordering and regulating tool), the result outlines design guidelines capable of connecting new living needs with new technological solutions, in a condition of economic and institutional sustainability.