11:00   Adaptable Futures I
Chair: John Heintz
11:00
20 mins 		ADAPTABLE BUILDINGS: THREE NON-RESIDENTIAL CASE STUDIES
Almudena Fuster, Alistair Gibb, Simon Austin, Katy Beadle, Peter Madden
Abstract: This paper describes the findings and lessons learnt from the study of three adaptable non-residential buildings, as part of the Adaptable Futures research project, at Loughborough University, UK. In each case the reasons for adaptability, technical features of the buildings and changes achieved during the lifecycle, as well as main lessons learnt from each of them are explained.
11:20
20 mins 		THE NEW JAPANESE HOUSING LAW TO PROMOTE THE LONGER LIFE OF HOUSING AND EXAMPLE OF CHANGES IN THE LAYOUT OF PUBLIC HOUSING IN JAPAN OVER 40 YEARS
Kazunobu Minami
Abstract: This paper reports the purpose of the new law, which promotes the longer life of Japanese housing and outlines the legal technical guidelines. The new law, otherwise known as the 200-year housing law which promotes the longer life of housing in Japan, passed the Upper House of the Japanese Parliament on October 28, 2008, following deliberations in the Lower House in the preceding week. The concept of this law was presented by former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in 2007. According to the studies done by Professor Komatsu of Waseda University, the average life time of newly-built detached wooden houses in Japan was almost fifty years. From the viewpoint of sustainable development, we believe it is necessary to expand the life span of Japanese houses. There are various reasons for the short life span of housing. Fires following the Great Kanto Earthquake that struck the Tokyo area in 1912 caused a huge loss of building stock, so only a small amount of old houses remain. The rapid economic growth that followed the Second World War enabled the Japanese to afford to live in larger houses with modern facilities. Many people rebuilt their smaller temporary houses built just after the end of the war. The new law aims to supply sustainable housing in Japan. The technical guidelines following the new law explain the technical details required for extending the life span of housing. The client can apply for tax reductions and can receive subsidies by designing and building a house which complies with the new law and technical guidelines. There are nine chapters in the technical guidelines, and an appendix. Chapter 1. Durability of the material; Deterioration measures; House structures should be able to be used for several generations Chapter 2. Structural design; Earthquake resistance Decrease the level of uncommon damage caused by earthquakes, and make it possible to use the house continuously Chapter 3. Ease of maintenance and renewal Measures for maintenance (cleaning, inspection, and repair) that make it easier to update the interior finishing and facilities which have shorter life spans compared to the building structures. Chapter 4. Adaptability Measures that help to modify room layouts according to changes in the lifestyle of the occupants. Chapter 5. Universal design for the elderly and handicapped The maintenance of the necessary space in halls and corridors in the house that make it possible to modify the house in the future to enable the elderly or handicapped to continue to reside there. Chapter 6. Energy efficiency; Energy conservation The performance of the insulation etc. must ensure energy conservation. Chapter 7. Floor space for each unit Sufficient space must be secured to ensure the occupants have reasonable levels of living standards. Chapter 8. Environment of the nation The maintenance and the improvement of the living environment and the landscape in the surrounding area. Chapter 9. Long-term maintenance planning Plans for periodical inspections and future maintenance. Appendix: documentation and house records The author also shows an example of changes in the layout of public housing in Japan over 40 years, and checks how the new law can contribute to extending the life span of existing housing stock. The example shows how the residents can change the infill according to the changes in their lifestyles.
11:40
20 mins 		ADAPTABLE FUTURES AND INTEGRATED DESIGN SOLUTIONS: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FROM AN OPEN BUILDING PERSPECTIVE?
Stephen Kendall
Abstract: IDS (Integrated Design Solutions) is a term that makes sense when we consider it in terms of patterns of control. This enables us to link Adaptable Futures, IDS and Open Building. Open Building theory suggests that while the built field can be understood and described in many ways, a most effective way is to use the concept of LEVELS. For example, a "base building" level describes the configuration of spaces and parts under the control of a given party, offering space for use to those operating on the next lower level, often called the "fit-out". This is a two-level organization. We prefer to say that "integrated design (and building) solutions" occur on a given level, and that the idea of "coordinated solutions" best describes the work that connects two levels. This is akin to any large infrastructure such as water supply systems, electric utilities, or waste treatment systems. We don't think that the word "integrated" explains how large infrastructures work as a whole, because they operate across control domains (e.g. governmental jurisdictions). We say that "integrated" makes sense ON a given level. Because a base building is designed with "capacity" to accommodate a variety of "fit-out" solutions (initially and over time), it dominates the "fit-out". The "fit-out" is never known (except in the most general terms) when the base building is designed, because (in most real estate investments) no one knows what user or function will be admitted initially, and over time. That the party operating on the base building level does not control (but can influence) the “fit-out” decisions, even many years later. No one investing in long term value (the base building) will want the base building determined on a fixed "program" of fit-out inhabitants. This description of the way the built field works is not what we want, but what is actually going on. Whether what is actually happening is “good” in some objective (or political or moral) sense is another question entirely. We argue that we need to recognize and work with reality, and that perhaps, if we know how things work, we can seek for improvements. It seems to us that "integrating" across levels of intervention is often counterproductive and can lead to conflict (and sometimes war) and sub-optimum solutions, especially over time. We are therefore interested in studying how the bulk of real estate investments are actually delivered and managed over their life, and also how to deliver buildings more effectively (serving multiple powers) in light of this reality. This leads to studies of "integration" of design, construction, logistics, supply channel management, etc ON LEVELS. We see how in practice firms now "integrate" at the fit-out level. We see "fit-out packages" being used to reduce risks, improve quality, and streamline delivery and installation, using multi-skilled workers, IT/BIM, staged logistics, etc. This is happening faster at the “fit-out level” than at the "base building" level for all sorts of reasons. There is ample evidence of this but woefully little empirical research on it. Key Words: Integrated Design Solutions, Levels, Adaptable Futures, Open Building
12:00
20 mins 		THE IMPACT OF FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY ON MINIMIZING HOUSING OBSOLESCENCE: A PILOT STUDY OF URBAN HOUSE STOCK BUILT AROUND THE MILLENNIUM IN CHONGQING, CHINA
Zhijie Ren, Beisi Jia
Abstract: Much literature proposed functional flexibility as a useful way to reduce or avoid housing obsolescence, but other literature suggested flexibility had a limited impact. This pilot study intends to practically scan the impact of functional flexibility in a context of China. This paper studies housing stocks and their holders jointly. By case studies in Chongqing, China, this paper observes functional flexibility in housing stocks and collects their features of obsolescence based on initial households’ attitudes or reactions toward their properties. Finally, this paper suggests that, in a context of rapily upgrading living standards, functional flexibility resulting from spatial redundancy is helpful for initial households to reduce housing obsolescence, while functional flexibility resulting from physical changeability has a limited impact.
12:20
20 mins 		PERSISTENCE AND CHANGE: XOCHIMILCO: A MAN-MADE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT DIALOGUE
Jorge Andrade
Abstract: After more than a thousand years, one of the finest ways of man natural environment is on the brink of collapse. Internationally recognized as a world`s human kind`s heritage, Xochimilco people`s way of life and their traditional “chinampas” one of the most efficient and sustainable ways of agricultural production, have been since last century under strong pressure by Mexico City`s uncontrolled urban growth. “ The chinampa” a small a man-made island surrounded by water canals located on the borders of xochimilco and chalco lakes, were for more than a thousand years and up to the beginning of the last century, the granary of Tenochtitlan the ancient city of Aztecs. This as we know, later on became Mexico, capital city of “Nueva Espana”, the biggest colony of Spain in the American continent. Thorough a small scale reconstruction and documentation of dwelling units, along with their inhabitant`s changes and growth, we try first of all, to understand and sustain a dynamic process. This is in order to define what has to be either preserved or changed, in the never-ending relationship between architecture and its cultural and natural context. San Luis Tlaxialtemalco, a small peasant`s town founded at the beginning of XVII century and located at the border of Xochimilco lake, has been, since September 2007, our object of study at the Taller de Vivienda “Housing Workshop Study” in our university. In this short period of time, we found that a lot of work has been done in Xochimilco and its chinampas from different fields of knowledge. However, at a dwelling unit level and family scale, not too much has been done to understand what has been happening in this kind of environments day by day behavior, way of life, and built and open spaces. Our main goal is to find a way of preserving this valuable way of life as well as understanding and improving on it the changes needed according to our times and technological advances. This is an unfinished advance of our work and we must say that instead of answers, we have come across more and more questions to be solved. These ranging from the regional scale level up to the dwelling unit level. It is for us very important to have the opportunity to share these reflections in a congress on Open Architecture in Rotterdam Holland, where water, land and human beings have been in constant persistence and change. Key words: open building, urban growth, dwelling transformation, persistence and change