T e m p o r a r y H o u s i n g
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performances, to reduce energy consumption not only in terms of building managing but
also in relation to all different phases of the life cycle (pre-production and production,
transportation from factory to building site, materials’ end of life and reintegration) and to
use of soil.
As seen, the adjectives used to decline the issue of temporary architecture are based on
the requirements of flexibility (Fig.7):
typological flexibility
(ability of building to allow
different configurations of size, shape and distribution of space when in use),
technological flexibility
(ability to provide functional and technical integration between
elements, substitutability, adaptability and interchangeability of parts or components
providing functionality and appropriate performance). Flexibility as convertibility of use
through the transformation of the furnishings, with the re-configurability of the spaces
through the repositioning of technical elements that define them, with the re-
conditionability of the relationship between space-function-user through the reshaping of
environmental factors (light, air, temperature).
Adaptability is another aspect with which it’s possible to meet the demand of different
uses and functions over time. It may be considered as re-configurability not
instantaneous, immediate, but delayed in time. In this context, it becomes important to
the role of environment’s customization, obtained by users with direct intervention to
determine the use conditions most appropriate to the needs. The independence of the
location instead is based on the requirements of mobility and portability of the building
that it may provide integrated driving systems, or it must rely to the means of transport.
The movement cannot ignore the dimensional control of the shape of the unit
transported, applied compactable systems (or expandable during operation) or removed
and replaced ones.
In recent years, the concept of reversibility has progressively affirmed as characteristic of
a building system to be capable of being de-constructed in technological units (materials,
elements, components or systems), that can be regarded still as effective resources (and
not waste or scrap) to reintroduce in an additional manufacturing process or be
reintegrated into the environmental system. The construction system can have different
degrees of reversibility depending on the level of performance that the products, derived
from its disposal, maintain compared to the original conditions of use or to new uses.
The prediction of the target residues from the de-construction phase is related to
requirements of recyclability and reusability. Therefore the degree of reversibility is much
higher when the elements are reusable, or when materials can be returned in original
condition to the natural environment from which they have been taken. One of the design
conditions that allow to program the reuse of construction elements is the invariability of
ready-made products, for which the construction system is made on materials and semi-
finished products of which the quality of the product, in terms of morphological and
dimensional configuration, are maintained unchanged.
The reversibility of a building is feasible on the principle of its dis-integration (dis-
connection); first of all in terms of technological aspect, achieved by a system composed
of elements that can be easily dis-aggregated, dis-connected or dis-assembled, in other
words, a de-constructible system. The new building culture implies the need to meet with
the project three basic requirements:
_ accessibility: each functional element should be designed with particular attention to
the operations to which this element might be subjected during its life cycle or its end. It's
important to pay attention to the assessments on how each technical element is
connected or disconnected to adjacent elements;
_ removability: a technical element should be designed and manufactured to facilitate
disassembly for the recovery, disposal or relocation. This leads to early detection of
technical elements most likely to be subject to manipulation;
_ recoverability: each technical element should be designed in such a way that at the
end of its life cycle (or in response to removal, relocation or replacement) it’s possible
