FlexHousing

So, I have decided to pursue a different term. This term is "FlexHousing" and was mentioned to me in a comment on my last post (Thanks Dale!).

FlexHousing is a concept developed by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation that illustrates the need to design homes in ways that allow it to adapt to the occupants changing needs over a long period of time. As Dale had suggested in his post, it is probably the closest Canadian equivalent to the Fair Housing Act in the United States.

The dynamics of a family change over time. Usually, this would be accommodated for by simply moving to a new house. For example: A child is born, move to a big house; when the children leave home, move to a smaller house.

But what if you had a house that adapted to these life changes? Maybe an office could be made into two bedrooms and maybe the basement could be made into a separate dwelling unit that can be rented out.

This is very interesting to me. I think, in my paper, that I am going to argue the need for more FlexHousing in Canada, especially since the proportion of seniors in the entire population is in the process of changing.

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Research Notes

CMHC on FlexHousing
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/buho/flho/

FlexHousing: Building Adaptable Housing
https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/b2c/b2c/init.do?language=en&shop=Z01EN&areaID=0000000035&productID=00000000350000000142

Possible Sources
http://enablelink.ca/include/article.php?aid=1107&cid=&pid=&subid=

Canadia Centre of Housing Technology
http://www.ccht-cctr.gc.ca/main_e.html

"FlexHouse Guided Tour"
http://www.ccht-cctr.gc.ca/docs/flexhouse_e.pdf

News
http://www.ccht-cctr.gc.ca/news/newsletter1_e.pdf



"Can adapting the homes of older people and providing assistive technology pay its way? [Article]"
http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/33/6/571

"The Adaptable House: Designing Homes for Change [Book]"
http://books.google.ca/books?id=B-qVb__HjxUC&dq=The+Adaptable+House:+Designing+
Homes+for+Change&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=p3GI9rqrVz&sig=duw7ESiUx9-cyTPelzkCn2bGpMo&hl=en&ei=ZAWqSc3NAoimtgO9x5VJ&sa=X&oi=
book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA20,M1

"THE BENEFITS OF BUILDING BARRIERFREE: A CONTINGENT VALUATION OF ACCESSIBILITY AS AN ATTRIBUTE OF HOUSING [Article]"
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.tru.ca/ehost/pdf?vid=4&hid=102&sid=e3922354-078c-40bc-aaa3-f6d04c47e85f%40sessionmgr104

"DESIGN FOR EVERYONE [Article, List of References]"
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.tru.ca/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=102&sid=e3922354-078c-40bc-aaa3-f6d04c47e85f%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=34614697

In Search of a Thesis

Coming up with a complete thesis has been difficult, especially within the context of a analytical report. It would would be very easy to do an information report; discussing things like "The need for building adaptability in Canadian Legislation." But then it would be like an essay from an English class instead of a report from an Architectural Technology program.

Anyways, I'm just going to post some links to a very quick book search I did on amazon.com for future reference.

http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Guide-Fair-Housing-Accessibility/dp/0471395595/
ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234462387&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Fair-Housing-Design-Manual-Accessibility/dp/0894992392/
ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Guide-ADA-Disabilities-Accessibility/dp/0470108703/
ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Human-Dimension-Interior-Space-Reference/dp/0823072711/
ref=pd_sim_b_1

Mission Statement

I've always had the belief that people should not have to adapt to architecture; architecture should adapt to people. This is the primary motive behind my research topic "Making Houses More Accessible". I am planning to explore ways of solving problems that arise when adapting residential housing to accommodating people with disabilities.

My thesis statement is still in it's early stages and may evolve further as my research begins to get deeper.

And now, courtesy of Failblog.org, moments to remind us why design needs to have people in mind.