ARCHItecture from STOCKholm

The “How do we live in Europe?” workshop has finished today at KTH in Stockholm.

It’s been an initiative by professors from the Housing workshop, aimed at discussing about the way of living in Sweden and comparing it with living in Mediterranean countries, in the context of home design. Proposed questions were How do we live in our homes? Will it continue to be the same in the future? What’s the lifespan we should consider when designing houses? For how many people? And, from these points, questioning the shape, dimensions and spaces traditionally considered mandatory in every home.

Giving a proper answer to these questions seemed to suggest two different approaches: Either designing very flexible spaces allowing very different uses over time, or alternatively design specific solutions for specific users and needs. Eventually, all students teams decided to design flexible homes capable of being transformed whenever changes are required. The results have been presented this afternoon, and they can be summarized as:

– The Wall: Flexibility requires some rigid elements first. Therefore, this concept is built from a hollow wall with space for wet rooms, ready to adopt different lengths and being stacked.

– Worm Nest: A grid made from 30m2 squares is the base for composing cross-shaped houses sharing the central zone and allowing diverse arrangements.

– Silo: The design process is accomplished in volume rather than through plan drawings. Rooms plan sizes are reduced to a minimum while fulfilling Sweden codes but then it grows as a prism which can be subdivided as needed, in the lines of IKEA assembling, resulting in a concept with a very Swedish flavor.

-Biblioclub: Another volume-based approach. A 4.5 meters tall volume is divided in two zones: an inferior and taller public space, and a top zone -yet lower- for the beds. Sliding furniture lets modify the interior configuration  according to the number of users in the house.

This work comes from 1st Year Degree students teams, by professors Jens Engman and Karin Saler, together with students from the 1st Year Master program (our 4th Year) by professors Ori Merom and Charlie Gullström.

An enriching experience to import.


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