Houses On The Cloud
Abstract
Houses on the Cloud is a web-based residential participatory design platform scripted using JavaScript (3JS Library), CSS and HTML. The app prototype is supported by a theoretical construction system of prefabricated modules that allows customisation of both the interior and exterior configurations of the apartment by the residents continuously over the lifetime of the building.
Despite significant shifts in values and family compositions of the new generations in some now developed Asian nations, most modern-day high-rise residences still share the same legacy layouts, designed for ideal nuclear families with regular work life patterns. The proposed participatory design framework explores alternative visions of adaptable housing solutions to overcome the issues of homogeneity and limited variability. It is enabled by the open building concept: the support being a concrete frame into which apartments are inserted as infills. The web application is designed using a gamified approach, making it easy for non-designers to create 3D models of their apartments.
The proposal challenges the concept of a building: it is no longer a static entity, but instead a dynamic process that will undergo continuous adaptation through participatory design. The role of an architect focuses more on being a designer of spatial rules rather than the designer of a final spatial form.
The project was presented and published in International Conference for The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2022.
Prototype Video: https://youtu.be/WVmFl3zxFsI
Supervisor Comments
Huiyao proposes a novel approach to the participatory design of residential high-rise apartments. In contrast to previous approaches, she focuses on the ability of residents to modify and resize their apartments throughout the lifetime of the building. Her approach is enabled by a highly flexible modular construction system coupled with a digital web platform for designing apartments. Each resident can use the web app to buy spatial cells within the 3D structural grid, and then design their own customized apartment, specific to their needs and desires. Over time, they can also grow and shrink their apartment, in response to changes in their lifestyle. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach, Huiyao developed a fully functional 3D web application for designing apartments. You can view the web app at: https://huiyaohu.github.io/thesis-in-progress/.
- Assoc. Prof. Patrick Janssen (Dr.)
Hu Huiyao
Hu Huiyao