Thematic file

elastic_living®

The central idea

Based on studies examining living behavior in Central Europe, a modular system with movable elements that multiply space was born. Today, 60-70% of the housing demand on the market is for one or two people - for example, 40% of the Swiss population (36% in Germany) live in one-person apartments - and the trend is growing. This ratio is true both in crowded urban centers (urban living) and for living outside the city (rural living): such dwellings in central Europe typically have a floor area of between 50 and 60 sq m.

On this basis, the following can be formulated: housing does not only have to meet the needs of the tenants, the living space can be remodeled to make it affordable (economic efficiency).

Moreover, the budget set no longer works energy efficiently. The balance of individual dwellings in combination with the typical behavior patterns of this form of housing further reinforces the imbalance and offsets the savings elsewhere - for example, by improving thermal protection in the outer shell of the building (energy efficiency).

The temporary use of space, the living process with its sequences of day, night and leisure time, and the carrying out of work at home are the focal point to which the modified behavior is linked in order to achieve total efficiency. The living functions are connected with certain spaces, the kitchen/cooking space is not, however, necessary during sleep, work or relaxation. The kitchen is a kitchen only when it is in use and does not need to be provided with a permanent share of the living space/ volume of the dwelling.

By sequentially activating the living space, the already used 'living function' gains the areas of unused functions. In this way, the useful floor area can be multiplied up to four times. Elements that a room does not need will be added to the living space. The dwelling works in series and can be optimized in terms of space when viewed as a process! ^{elastic_LIVING®}has been meeting all these requirements since 2008 as a prototype and now also as a serial product.

"... but all the developments that have taken place since then are not actually reflected in the exterior or interior of this habitat. We wonder why there are simply no sections that we can use today in this way and later in another way, for example by removing the furniture. And in that a kitchen is a kitchen when you need it; otherwise it is not a kitchen. But these are ideas that we don't yet see being implemented at the big furniture fairs today."

(Philosopher Peter Sloterdijk in dialog with Werner Sobek, exhibition "Interieur/ Exterieur. Living in Art" at the Wolfsburg Art Museum, 2009)

photo: Angelo ROVENȚA