The collapsible house

Abstract

The scales of change that affect suburban houses differ according to numerous variables. The goal of this thesis is to design a house that can adapt not only to different external scales of change--for example, climate--but also the internal pressures that reflect the owner's spatial needs and desires. By focusing on the demands of nature and the internal demands of the family, this re-conceptualization of the suburban home proposes to satisfy the above mentioned criteria in addition to the traditional expectation of a suburban home. Following a detailed study of the suburban environment, it became quite obvious that the typical house simultaneously negotiates different scales of change that have little to do with each other. We expect our houses to adapt to both the climatic environment that envelopes it as well as the changing physical and emotional needs of its owner. Yet when one takes away the option of a costly renovation, few, if any, homes meet both these inner and outer wants. My design accounts for these past failings and proposes to function as a filter that negotiates that outside world with the chaos of life. Though natural disasters and personal change are completely different in origin, they both disrupt our lifestyles in a similar fashion. By using the house as a mediator between the two, I find a middle ground that bridges the two seemingly antithetic contexts.