Fangyi Miao

Affordable House 2040

With changes in lifestyle and economic development, the form of future housing seems worth redefining. In the future, what is the relationship between living space and using space? Also, how is there a relationship between indoor space and outdoor space. In addition, where is the boundary between private and public. Finally, and most importantly, how can people afford such a living circumstance? These elements, gradually forgotten by the establishment of housing, will be the most important elements of this proposal.

This design uses an adaptable method to define private outdoor-spaces and communal-spaces. Each house will have its own garden to meet people’s need for green space. The public spaces generated by the adaptable-location of units are endowed with different functions due to their different dimension and positions. These spaces can simply lend themselves to a bench for resting or a large area with fitness facility for exercising. Since the circulation is very simple and direct, these public spaces are not only used to facilitate the communication among neighbors, but they also aim to alleviate the perceptual-discomfort caused by long narrow corridors. When people stand at the entrance of the community and look inside, a sense of community and harmony is stirred by these dynamic public spaces intertwined with the residential units,

A structural grid of 1350mm x 1350mm cuts the space evenly. The width of all units is four grid-cells, while the length is between four to nine cells. In theory, the scheme can be assembled by prefabricating different panels. Speaking of unit layout, all the living spaces, such as the living room and kitchen, are placed on the ground floor. The smaller bedrooms are placed on the upper floor. Finally, the master bedroom is on the top floor. In a case such as the living room lacking large openings because it faces a corridor and privacy becomes an issue, then a skylight on the roof and a large glazed sliding door for the courtyard both provide ample lighting for the room. There are two malleable house types, one can be flexible from one to three bedrooms, the other can be flexible from four to five bedrooms. When the owners need to add more bedrooms to meet the new family size, they can, on the one hand, convert the den room on the ground into a new bedroom, or convert the top-floor outdoor balcony into an indoor space through adding partitions.