T e m p o r a r y H o u s i n g
397
TEMPORARY HOUSING
Daniela Besana
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Assistant Professor in Building Technology, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAr),
University of Pavia, Italy
Abstract
The methodological premises are based on building sustainable development that’s
derived from three factors: the needs and changes of modern society, new instances of
environmental efforts to its preservation and the economic factors.
In an increasingly global society, in which times and connections are more instantaneous
and spaces and distances are increasingly extended and connected, also the housing
needs change.
In parallel, the ecological question opens reflections on land already saturated, on a
ground that doesn’t allow new constructions and on existing consolidated and obsolete
building. It means also a rethinking of energy consumption throughout the whole building
life cycle: so the concept of "temporary housing" could be a useful and successful
response to meet these challenges.
Between the current solutions of the production design which relate to a high mass-
production standardized product and, in opposite, the solutions of custom design,
temporary living becomes a strategy able to propose a residential flexible and adaptable
model. This concept is no longer used only to a limited and defined time of a dwelling
type, but rather, on the need of a continuous re-configuration and re-allocation of living
space and of a reversible ownership of landscape.
So designers must control the entire design process, recognizing a social and
environmental purpose. It must be consciously checked from the earliest stages of
project design, according to a meta-design approach that can consistently meets the its
needs, through the definition of new requirements, facing technological flexible and
reversible solutions to its total deconstruction and dismantled. Constructional solutions,
conceived by the Structure/Envelope technique, provide a good answer to check the
project’s performance, the conformity to changing needs, the energy savings and the
use of soil. Finally this conception of the project, which employs consciously ready-made
products without compromising quality construction, allows controlling and reducing
project’s costs.
Keywords:
Performance approach, temporary living, structure/envelope technique,
mass production design, customisation, sustainable development, prefabrication.
