Choose Housing: An American Housing Design Experiment

Abstract

This thesis examines the implications and levels of choice for the user in the built environment. The living environment persists through change and adaptation and as society progresses, specializations continue to increase and man forfeits basic levels of choice. So often, choice has become dictated by the options that are available for purchase and specializations have created a system where people now rely on the services and goods of others. The built environment reflects this system and is creating a building stock that is less adept to changes of a building's function. While this study does not aim to naively denounce this current system, it does investigate a process to reintroduce choice for the user and create sustainable architecture that promotes change. Through this exploration, the issues of affordability and the importance of economic diversity will be addressed. The means for tackling these issues is spatial flexibility of high-density housing.