Reflecting and communicating

Silvia Sýkorová Arquitectura LA SALLE, Universitat Ramon Llull

October 15, 2010

In which ways can “technology” be a driving force for the transformation of housing, today?

“This new civilization brings a new family model, a new way of working, new human relationships, new way of life, new economy, new political disputes and, moreover, even a change of consciousness. “ (Alvin Toffler)

Technology in housing today

Intelligent buildingsan enormous variety of technologies, across commercial,

industrial, institutional and domestic buildings, including energy management systems and building controls.

its purpose is to control, monitor and optimise building services; lighting, heating, security, alarm systems, access control, audio-visual and entertainment systems, ventilation, filtration and climate control, etc.

1. Flexibilitycreating atmospheres

and scenes (light sorces)

adaptation to various activities (teleworking)

reinforce the zonal resolution flat(day and night zone)

2. Comfortcentral controls

(push-button controls, touch controls, mobile drivers, etc.)

lighting control (artificial lighting, screening components,etc.)

multimedia center(integrated device for watching video and audio recordings of the highest quality)

telecommunications center (internet connection, phone line, wireless network, hardware acces point, local wireless bluetooth, wifi)

3. Cost reductionsolar collectors

photovoltaic module

heat pumps, biomass burning, heat recovery, etc.

4. Security systemsalarm system

(provides access control in a building with access detectors)

fire detection and alarm

camera system

Who is the “dweller”, today?

New lifestyle, new formsproposing spaces better adapted to the new forms of domestic

groups, to the modes of interaction between people that are evolving.

adapting the home to the present day rythms of daily life, on the forms of relaxing, of work, and of consuming in mutation.

architects try to escape today from the labyrinth of coactions and they try to find the details that allow the improvement of the daily life. Confronted with the purely functionalist position that would lead to the creation of a space strictly adapted to each action, numerous architects try, in diverse ways, to propose a poetic flash: pretty view, pretty light, corporal play via working of the volumes, pleasure in the well-thought relation with the exterior or simply space where the daily activities are carried out without problems.

Atelier Kempe Thill, Neutralidad específica

Today one can notice a tendency of reorganisation of the home from the perspective of private and public zone. The desired end is not only allowing a good appropriation of the home on the part of the inhabitants, but to propose a division of the space (an eminentle architectural job) that allows being together but in a separate manner, a member of a family but an autonomous individual.

Monique Eleb, Modos de vida emergentes y hábitat, 1995

More and more frequently, architects propose buildings where the apartment and the office are mixed. For some this is about following the evolution that will lead people to work at home, for others the objective is social, to mix private life, work and free time.

No longer do we know for whom we are building. There is no general life style or clear social pattern anymore. Houses must be flexible so that they become attractive for different groups.

Building in the future must be flexible in two ways: On the one hand, flexible during the design process (one always faces a new economic situation during the process and the design should be able to react to it), on the other hand, flexible over the years of use.

The question for the future is to create flexible, neutral structures that can resist and allow continuous changes.

Loftnew typology of the 21st centurya more personal individualised way of living a reaction to the decay of urban communities

and public space.

In loft you can create your own paradise and cut all relations with the public sphere to a minimum, with the new media people are well connected and can find and receive almost anything they wish. The loft is a mix of public and private, it can be home, office or both. In former times people went on the street, now they prefer to stay at home.