Elemental Homes; How Flexible Design can address Spatial Inequality

Abstract

Access to desirable urban and suburban areas is becoming more unequal across Northern Europe, where rising housing costs and a chronic misallocation of space limit spatial opportunities for many residents. Older generations occupy large, underused homes they cannot easily leave, while younger households lack access to the space they need. The housing crisis is not one of supply but of distribution. This thesis investigates how adaptable housing structures can respond to these changing demand patterns while contributing to greater spatial justice. Rather than proposing densification or demolition, it asks whether an existing and widely desired typology, the suburban single family house, can be redesigned from the inside out to become more flexible, more equitable and more socially sustainable over time. A set of Flexible Design Principles is developed, mapping relevant theories of architectural flexibility across three scales: micro, meso and macro. These principles do not prescribe a fixed solution but provide a framework that architects can apply and interpret depending on context. The second half of the thesis tests these principles through a roleplaying suburban scenario set in the imaginary town of Grøsbärg. The design proposal, Elemental Homes, introduces a permanent core unit combined with detachable residential modules and a collectively owned community building. Inhabitants own their core unit and rent additional modules from the community, creating a financial and spatial incentive to rightsize as their needs change over time. To evaluate the design, a scenario analysis game called the Sharing Game was developed and roleplayed with five volunteers. The game simulates 50 years of community life, stress testing the spatial system against the unpredictable life events of a multi-generational community.