Mass-produced Housing Research Articles

Designing for Modern Living

This study delves into the evolving landscape of modern living in South Korea, which has the widespread apartment complexes that have emerged from the efficiency centric approaches of industrial capitalism. It explores the paradigm shift in the 21st-century capitalist society, which now values creativity and individual expression over functionality and uniformity. This shift has led to a noticeable disparity between the monotonous spatial composition of mass-produced housing and the dynamic, creative lifestyles of contemporary residents. The research method involves a comprehensive analysis of both lifestyle and architectural magazines, providing insights into the changing preferences and lifestyles of residents, as well as the perspectives of professionals. The study aimed to highlight the changing nature of residential spaces and the design strategies, moving away from the conventional utility-focused designs, towards environments that foster creativity and reflect the individuality of inhabitants. Key findings indicate a growing public preference for residential spaces that are versatile, creatively stimulating, and aligned with the multifaceted nature of modern lifestyles. Contrasting these views, architectural experts emphasize the fundamental values of living, advocating for spaces that connect residents with nature and enrich everyday experiences through sensory engagement. The study concludes that while there is a divergence in perspectives between the general public and architectural specialists, both recognize the necessity for sustainable housing solutions. These solutions should cater to contemporary societal changes while preserving essential life values, thereby overcoming the limitations of the prevalent apartment centric urban housing model in South Korea.

Policy-Induced Suburbanization: Mass-Produced Housing and Location Choices in Tijuana, Mexico

ABSTRACT Mexican cities began an urban expansion process fueled principally by public mortgage supply in the early 2000s. The new urban landscape, comprising mass-produced suburban housing developments for low-income families, deepened socioeconomic differences. For years, developers have claimed land prices are the reason for suburban expansion in Mexico, not policy-enabled construction economies. This study tests the hypothesis that cost reduction strategies through scale economies explain the suburban location and the homogeneous landscape built under the reformed mortgage system. Using data on housing production costs for Tijuana, the results show that building homes using technology developed during policy implementation yields scale economies and reduces building costs. Additionally, statistics on housing developers’ location decisions illustrate how production economies have contributed to a landscape that increased segregation, exclusion, and housing vacancy in Mexican cities.

The Commoning of Public Goods by Residents of a Jakarta Apartment Complex

ABSTRACT This study explores the commoning of public goods by residents of rental apartment buildings in Indonesia. Rental apartments have been Indonesia’s means of providing affordable housing to people evicted from high-density kampung settlements. However, this mass-produced housing presents various socio-spatial problems for the underprivileged residents, who have responded in many cases by taking over and repurposing public areas. A rental apartment complex in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, was examined as a case study to understand the transformations of corridors on many of its floors. The study found that commoning among neighbours and building management transformed the public into common goods and that the occupants negotiated agreements among themselves to avert rivalry over the newly appropriated resources. This study recommends a new perspective of rental apartment design, regulations, and management to accommodate the commoning of the tenants to meet their unaccommodated needs.

Review: Pierre Koenig: A View from the Archive, by Neil Jackson

Review: <i>Pierre Koenig: A View from the Archive</i>, by Neil Jackson

A New Demand-Supply Model to Enable Sustainability in New Australian Housing

Sustainability implementation in new housing in Australia lags much of the developed world’s standards and implementation levels for residential sustainability. Various reasons for this are offered via a ‘blame game’ in a sector plagued by lack of demand, prohibitive costs, and poorly implemented existing energy efficiency regulations. Multiple gaps in traditional supply-led procurement theory inhibits sustainability’s implementation in the Australian mass production residential construction system. Once-off consumers are not the key demand actor due to their inability to demand sustainability in a system that limits consumers’ choice and demand. Warren-Myers and Heywood (2016) theorized that the mass-producing Volume Builders are the pivotal demand-side actor in mainstreaming sustainability in the Australian new housing system. This paper investigated the Volume Builders’ roles and relationships with traditional demand-side actors, housing consumers, and the supply-side’s subcontractors and suppliers, to identify the ultimate demand actor that drives the housing industry. The investigation used semi-structured interviews with Volume Builders. The results demonstrated Volume Builders’ dominance of the Australian residential mass production construction industry validating their pivotal role as a demand-side actor in a consumption-based demand and supply model. This identifies Volume Builders as the key actor who could then drive wide-spread adoption of sustainability innovation in Australian mass-produced housing.

REALIZATION OF THE STANDARD CABINET AS THE “EQUIPMENT” BY LE CORBUSIER:

This paper aims to clarify the spatial composition of the standard cabinets as the “equipment” by Le Corbusier (1887-1965), in order to discuss the revolution of the notion of interior “decor” in the 20th century. At first, we pick up the discourse concerning the standard cabinets in the architectural projects for private houses, and classify them as the methodology of interior setting of a building (Chapter 2). Next, we extract the case examples of the studies of the cabinets from all Le Corbusier's private house projects, and clarify the secular change of the realization methods of the cabinets (Chapter 3). Finally, we discuss the reasons and the implications of such a transition about the spatial composition of houses (Chapter 4). Le Corbusier has already proposed a prototype of interior life space in the occation of the construction of the pavilion L'Esprit Nouveau in 1925. At that time, he mentioned three methods of setting the standard cabinets: to incorporate (“incorporer”) into the wall - cabinet (in) -, to put (“appuyer”) on the wall - cabinet (app) -, and to separate (“disposer”) from the wall － cabinet (dis) -. However, although he replaced the stylized furniture with a standardized mass production cabinets, he could not realize from the biginning all three types of the cabinets : cabinet (in), cabinet (app), and cabinet (dis). In the private house projects from the 1920s to the 1930s, cabinet (app) was often applied due to the restrictions on site conditions and the requests of daily life from the owners. This is methodologically the same as the setting of the conventional decorative arts. Houever, what Le Corbusier aimed was the cabinet (dis) as partition separaterd frome the wall to escape from the trational furniture as the decorative arts. It was greatly affected by the opportunities of the mass-produced housing researches after the First World War and of constructions at the remote locations. That is, it was necessary for the architect to detach the cabinets from the immovable wall surface in order to automatically set up them without controlling all construction processes on the spot far from the architect. It was also partly effective to answer the details of various requests of the owners. Such a cabinet (dis) has been continuously studied after the Second World War, and finally, it was not only independent from the wall, but also it was itself being studied as movable cabinets. On the other hand, the cabinet integrated with the wall, which could not be realized in the 1920s, was examined by houses with vault roofs. Unlike houses with pillars and floors as structural framework, Le Corbusier examined the cabinet incorporated into the wall, due to the large number of walls supporting the vault roof. Such a cabinet (in) was pursued further in India under the tropical climatic conditions, for the necessity of ventilation not obstructed by furniture. The realization of the standard cabinets by Le Corbusier does not develop linearly, but expands to the both poles while continuing to the methodology of the decorative arts. Although this result seemingly contradicts, whether movable cabinet or incorporated cabinet, it can be thought that Le Corbusier's studies of the standard cabinet was the research of a new "wall".

Understanding the impact of economic migrants and landless farmers on mass-produced housing and community space in China, using the case of Zhangjing, Suzhou

ABSTRACTAs a consequence of the rapid, government-led and globally fuelled urban development that is occurring within China, an unplanned form of urbanization is emerging, whereby landless farmers and economic migrants are resettling and occupying both public space and housing in ways that deviate from the community development plan.The paper will use both historical and contemporary urban theory, together with a case study of Zhangjiing in Suzhou Industrial Park, China as means of critiquing and learning from these consequences and the planning and policy instruments in place. The case of Zhangjing can be critically reviewed in the context of Christopher Alexander’s argument that when a new urban development is created which is modelled or predicated on a tree structure to replace the semi-lattice that was there before, the city takes a step towards dissociating itself from its geographical and cultural context.

From “National Style” to “Rationalized Construction”

From “National Style” to “Rationalized Construction”: Mass-Produced Housing, Style, and Architectural Discourse in the East German Journal Deutsche Architektur, 1956–1964 examines architectural critique of housing and style as it unfolded in the East German journal Deutsche Architektur (German architecture) from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s. Through an analysis of articles published in the journal as well as primary source documents, Emily Pugh investigates the reception of newly built housing developments in East Germany by a group of influential socialist architects, historians, and critics who were then writing for Deutsche Architektur. Pugh highlights individual architects’ attempts to subvert or resist the control of state and party authorities and considers how these individuals’ efforts might have influenced the development of the East German building economy. She also argues that these architects’ understanding of architectural modernism differed from that of their counterparts in the Cold War West, having been influenced by political and economic circumstances specific to East Germany.

Flexible Social Housing as an Alternative to Mass-produced Housing in the Walled City of Famagusta

Flexible Social Housing as an Alternative to Mass-produced Housing in the Walled City of Famagusta

Review: Neo-historical East Berlin: Architecture and Urban Design in the German Democratic Republic, 1970–1990 by Florian Urban

Florian Urban. Neo-historical East Berlin: Architecture and Urban Design in the German Democratic Republic, 1970–1990 . Farnham, England, and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, 2009, x + 294 pp., 94 b/w illus., and 3 diagrams. $124.95, ISBN 9780754676164 For most of its existence, the German Democratic Republic was committed to mass-produced housing, pragmatic modernism, and socialist universalism. Having built a sea of prefab high-rises and slabs, during the 1970s the government turned to neohistorical architecture and the renovation of historical neighborhoods, especially in the capital, Berlin. In Neo-historical East Berlin: Architecture and Urban Design in the German Democratic Republic, 1970–1990 , Florian Urban offers the first systematic exploration of this paradox.1 The explanation, he suggests, lies in a mixture of pragmatism, provisional decisions that were later amplified into lasting policy, and shifting cultural attitudes. The paradox might have been only apparent, as Urban argues that neohistoricism was not always antipodal to modernism. What Urban calls neohistorical architecture comprises refurbishment, reconstruction, and new structures. His examples are showcase projects located in the center of the city, all somehow exceptional: spaces aimed at tourism, or at representing the GDR to an international public, or located in areas famous for their vibrant alternative culture. The resulting buildings and neighborhoods do not necessarily abide by visual or material authenticity, but rather evoke a “historical character” or “feel” through the use of past architectural forms and the staging of history “in period shops and restaurants”(74). The most notorious example is the Nikolaiviertel, a patch of winding streets and old-looking buildings, which Urban calls a “prefab old town” in reference to the concrete plates used in a large portion of the reconstruction. The area was at the heart of medieval Berlin, but most of it lay in ruins in the postwar era—including the Nikolaikirche, one of Berlin’s oldest structures. The Nikolaiviertel’s central location and history made it attractive to the GDR government not only as a site for tourism, but also to boost claims to German national …

An authorisation procedure for mass-produced farm animal housing systems with regard to animal welfare

In 1981, an authorisation procedure regarding animal welfare was introduced in Switzerland for mass-produced housing systems and equipment for farm animals. When asking for an authorisation, the manufacturer or importer of a housing system or equipment must send detailed documentation (plans, measures, technical data) to the Federal Veterinary Office. The authorisation can only be given if the housing system or equipment is in accordance with the requirements of the Swiss animal welfare legislation. Whenever possible, a decision is made on the basis of literature or experience with similar equipment. In some cases, however, practical tests are required. Such tests may include veterinary, physiological, and behavioural measurements to assess animal welfare. Authorisations are given by the Federal Veterinary Office. It may consult an advisory board which consists of experts in animal husbandry, animal housing construction, and animal protection. Over the last 23 years, more than 1300 authorisations were given, and 16 applications were rejected. The manufacturers may appeal against a decision of the Federal Veterinary Office. To illustrate the authorisation procedure and the indicators used to assess animal welfare, five examples of testing of housing systems or equipment are given. In conclusion, pre-testing of farm animal housing systems that are intended to be mass-produced is a promising way to increase and ensure product quality from livestock systems.

How to judge animal welfare in commercial housing systems for farm animals? A functional approach

The Swiss Federal Act on Animal Protection (1978) requires the sale of mass-produced housing systems for farm and laboratory animals to be authorized by the Federal Veterinary Office. Authorization is only granted for housing systems that safeguard the animals' welfare. A concept for the assessment of animal welfare has to provide a high forensic value. The capacity of farm animals to adapt to an intensive housing system can be examined directly, whereas the existence and extent of subjective feelings can only be assumed. Following K~immer and Tschanz, the examination focuses on the interaction of individuals with their artificial environment during a particular period of their lifespan. The main question is whether or not the individuals are able to cope with given non-specific (e.g. temperature, humidity) and specific (e.g. drinking troughs, behaviour of conspecifics) stimuli in order to reach the immediate (e.g. drinking, make way for) and ultimate (survival, reproduction ) goals. Animals of the same breed are observed in a highly diverse environment in order to determine behaviour patterns. Whether behavioural expressions which differ significantly from normal behaviour are adaptive to the restrictive housing conditions is judged by the consequences for both individuals and the environment. The Swiss and German authorities and courts responsible for animal welfare prefer conclusions based on this concept to others referring to the individual's motivational and emotional state. However, whether ethological assessments are fully considered in the final judgement also depends on whether it is reasonable for the animal keepers. This is often an unsatisfactory situation with respect to animals' welfare.

Public Health and the Law. Environmental Health: Extending Legal Liability for Mass-Produced Housing

Public Health and the Law. Environmental Health: Extending Legal Liability for Mass-Produced Housing