Patricia Yus, Vincent De Borger
Spain
The differences in climate, water, soil, topography, daylighting and natural resources, among others, are the consequences of the great diversity of scenarios that we can find on our planet. ‘An adaptable architecture to its location’ is the proposal to rethink affordable housing that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. We have to learn how our communities developed architecture without architects since the beginning; designs based on local needs, the availability of building materials from their environment and reflecting local traditions, or saying otherwise, vernacular architecture.
Nowadays more and more people do not live in a permanent environment like nomads in the prehistory. Businesses, new types of jobs, the ease of traveling, but also poverty, refugees and unemployment show a change of attitude towards the concept of fixed residences. We have to create an efficient and modern built environment capable of responding to social and environmental changes through physical transformation where the role of lightness and local resources is very important. Local materials require little processing or transporting and that’s why the environmental and economic costs are lower. Some are renewable resources (like trees and straw), and some may be so abundant that their supply seems almost inexhaustible (like rocks and sand).
Taking into account globalization and technology development in construction, we propose a system as compact and flexible as possible that begins in a universal central structure. It can be transported anywhere and can provide the main sources such us water or electricity for starting a new home. We don’t show a final image, we propose an idea of home that will change its foliage and its performance, like a tree, depending on the environment and its inhabitants. We have to support a more connected society learning from our history and the qualities of our environment.