s.i.n.g.l.e. f.a.m.i.l.y. h.o.u.s.e.
instructions for reuse in time of crisis
Malpensa area
2012
Prof. F.Zanfi
Prof. C.Merlini
The Italian family is changing… Is it possible to rethink and reuse the single family house, which is often an abundant and (only apparently) stereotypical material?
If we consider the actual regulation and planning of the little city in the Malpensa area we’ll see continuous and dramatic landscape erosion. Midst of the European crisis; a time of uncertainty and scarcity; we are obliged to take into consideration the interior of the city: what we already have.
A house is double up as a shop.
The house is divided into two households.
The house who nobody wants.
These are few examples of the changes happening in the diffused city. These phenomena confirm a change of the society that nobody has answered yet. The notion of house needs to change, as the idea of a family is changing. We imminently need a project vision and a shared sensitivity to re-build the diffused city that holds together many unchanged houses for changing households.
These stories of many homes have given birth to two urban approaches:
Functional Re-arranging: different functions besides residential enter into the house thereby changing the relationship with the street and leading to mixité.
Fragmentation/Sub-division: The concept of
the property being split into many parts thereby hosting more families in the same plot.
What kind of scenario can we imagine?
We need a vision for a regulation that can
recognize and host these new and diverse ways of living. Can a renewed idea be conceived for this changing way of life?