Flexibility and Adaptability of the Living Space to the Changing Needs of Residents

Abstract

Today, the need for flexibility in the housing area has become very urgent. It starts to be an essential feature of architecture. People live in a greater hurry and their needs are constantly changing. That’s why architecture is challenging to meet all users’ needs. Designers are experimenting and creating spaces full of innovative ideas crossing the border in the traditional approach to house design. This article, based on the examples, explores and systematizes the subject of flexibility and adaptability of residential architecture. The author discusses the subject on various levels from the macro to the micro scale, ranging from buildings, their construction, through interiors, mobile furniture, to modern technologies affecting the ability to easily adapt the space to the changing needs of users. The flexibility of housing architecture is considered in the context of the needs of young people living very quickly, but also as adaptability to the changing lifecycle of contemporary family, or to the needs of the elderly and the disabled people. Based on the presented examples, the author proves that the flexibility and adaptability of the living space to the changing needs of residents is a determinant of the times in which we live now. It is a universal and individual approach at the same time. Flexibility allows users to choose the most suitable solution from many possible ones and easily or at low costs re-adjust it again, which is also part of the idea of sustainable development.