Towards flexible housing: basic design principles

Abstract

In times of radical social transformations, the demand for flexibility of space can be identified as one of the strategic priorities of maintaining the urban environment. In the context of social, economic and environmental sustainability, housing must imply an integrated ability to respond to programme changes, which can be achieved through the concept of flexibility. By identifying and applying certain design principles, it is possible to prevent the problem of functional obsolescence and unsuitability of the living environment that modern cities are facing. The apartment as an immediate living environment is the most direct indicator of the degree of adaptability of the physical surrounding to modern human needs. The analysis of basic design principles, using an example of flexible apartment, examines the spatial correlations and laws of the relationship between elements of the plan, which provides the basis for the authors to draw the conclusions about the reality of applying this concept in practice.