Situations of dwelling: dwellings suiting situations

This article explores changeable dwellings that offer the possibility of satisfying spontaneous activities and needs arising from today's changing family patterns. It deals with dwellings that provide people with room for development and flexibility - an open framework, which can be adapted to new values and needs in differnet situations, lifestyles and stages. The study is based on information from users in new housing schemes in and around Copenhagen - 'open building' dwellings that reveal a variety of approaches to these problems? The analysis of the dwellings show that the architecture of the 'open dwelling' is dependent on three basic conditions: the static condition, the suitable condition and the situational condition. Each condition has its own powerful way of articulation. Our aim is to translate the observations of the projects in concepts and models that are applicable in new projects.