Functionality and furniture of the housing: Contributions to social housing design

Abstract

Studies show that the lack of functionality is a latent problem in both old and recent projects of social housing (HIS). The unbridled search for the reduction of the houses has reflected in the low spatial quality of the houses, glimpsed in the difficulty of mobilizing and circulating between the rooms. The literature discusses, however, what resources are needed to guarantee functionality without housing design. They are aspects related to the program, to the compartmentalization of the dwelling, its minimum areas and dimensions and, above all, the relation of the minimum furniture necessary for the accomplishment of the domestic activities, as well as the necessary area for its use and for the circulation in the spaces of the dwelling. Therefore, for the development of functional housing projects, it is necessary to know the set of furniture and equipment required in the performance of the various domestic activities, in their dimensional and use characteristics. And this is the central objective of this work: To check in the popular trade the dimensions of the minimum furniture of the house, and, with this data, to elaborate a family of parametric objects for Building Information Modeling (BIM), composed of all the necessary basic furniture items in a house. The research is of a practical nature, applied nature and oriented to the prescription, and was systematized in three main stages: (1) understanding of the theme; (2) data collection; (3) artifact construction: BIM family of popular furniture. As a result, initially, a comparative analysis is presented between the dimensions of the furniture found in commerce with what is indicated in the specialized literature. Then, this furniture is made available for download as Autodesk Revit-compatible family files. Finally, the applicability of this material is illustrated in design analysis. Thus, the research affirms its relevance by making available a material that is of great use for a better project practice, especially those of HIS, available to the academic community and other stakeholders.