FLEXIBILITY

"Humans are flexible creatures. We moved at will, we manipulate objects and we act in a large number of environments" (Robert Kronenburg: Flexible, arquitectura que integra el cambio, 2007). If we look back, humans have always been flexible to a greater or lesser extent. The nomads moved every day searching for survival by adapting their homes to different places and situations, or even moving them with them. Although at these principles flexibility was at mobile or adapted homes, little by little flexibility has been accomplished in fixed homes, even at the distribution and arrangement of spaces. If we look back a few centuries, we can see that Frank Lloyd Wright created the open-plan, something unheard at that time, in the same way that almost no one had work with the interior and exterior modeled flexibility. Today we can find all kinds of flexibilities that provide a bonus to the house; it allows having advantages as the possibility of performing different activities in a same place, changing the dimensions of a room, manipulating the interior-exterior division, etc. But the houses have a long and difficult life since the use may change and the surrounding environment is constantly changing, in contrast to the buildings, which is fixed. That is why the ability to adapt to changes could be the most important factor to consider on housing. But, although all buildings can be flexible in a greater o smaller extent, sometimes that is not a solution and and it requires a great deal of endeavor to be a entirely comfortable house. So, how should we design a flexible house? And is it real an advantage create flexible homes? If true, is it possible to find a flexible mechanism that can be used to satisfy all types of tenants?