Transformation of Socialist Realistic Residential Architecture into a Contemporary Sustainable Housing Habitat—General Approach and the Case Study

This article deals with the problem of multi-family housing implemented in the 1950s in Poland. Buildings from this period are located in the central districts of cities, and are well-connected and equipped with service infrastructure, but due to the small size of these flats, their low standard and poor technical condition, they are not sufficiently attractive for middle-class people and developing families. The consequence of this is the social selection of residents and the disappearance of neighborly relations. In this article, the authors present a balance sheet of the shortcomings and advantages of these buildings, and against the background of contemporary requirements for housing, resulting from the theory of sustainable development, they indicate possible directions for modernization. Detailed solutions are presented for a specific housing complex located in Rzeszów. The development of flat roofs and the introduction of functions integrating the community of residents are the significant elements of the project. Due to the fact that the functional layouts of stories, the structure of buildings, and to a large extent the spatial arrangement of residential complexes were unified in the 1950s throughout the whole country, the presented concept may serve as inspiration for similar projects undertaken in any other city in Poland.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CRITICAL SUCCESS CRITERIA ON SUSTAINABLE HOUSING; A CASE OF - LOW INCOME HOUSING, SRI LANKA

Sustainable housing is a popular topic with regard to the SDG, sustainable communities and Sustainable cities. Although different researches have come up with regard to different CSC of specific contexts there are very limited studies on CSC on Sustainable low-income housing. This research aims to compare the CSC on Sustainable low-income Housing in designing stage in Sri Lankan Context. 18 CSC were derived from comprehensive literature review and re-examined through the 27 professionals and ranked from community on three locations. Relative Importance Index- RII, Min Max Normalization and Gap analyses were employed in the ranking process of Critical Success Criteria. The highest importance has been ranked with Efficiency use of water and energy, Users Satisfaction and Quality of Housing while least importance is ranked with Maintainability, Public Consultation and community participation and cater for Disables and by Literature, Experts and Community respectively. Anyway, Public Consultation and Community Participation, newly derived CSC which is highly ranked among community is to be concentrated among the professionals for the attention and applications in practices. The findings of the research would support to the designers, architectures, planners specialized in this field to ensure the successful delivery of sustainable housing.

Activating Sustainable Building Technology’s Role in Contemporary Housing Design Strategies for Low-Income People after COVID19 Pandemic

In the developing world, practical steps are taken to provide adequate, sustainable housing, especially for low-income people within technological age capabilities in construction by searching for new techniques of building technology to meet that goal. In the Arab countries, contemporary housing design is particularly effective because it is the primary unit of the contemporary urban fabric and the basic cell that constitutes most of the city’s area. So the following research questions are discussed in this study: What are the challenges facing contemporary sustainable housing design in specific affordable housing for the lower-income groups? What is the potential for sustainable building technology to meet that goal considering the social and economic dimension of the COVID 19 pandemic? What are the ambitions that they set out to achieve in that house? To emphasize the essential role of sustainable building technology and techniques in acquiring and implementing different goals and actual needs of all strata of society.

Factors Influencing the Sustainability of Wood-Based Constructions’ Use from the Perspective of Users

Traditional construction solutions face increasing competition from more ecological materials such as construction systems based on wood. Thanks to the numerous favourable properties of wood, wood construction enjoys great popularity and allows building economical and modern constructions that are durable and contribute to an ecological future. This study is motivated by the need for innovative solutions in construction and offers numerous findings based on examining actual constructions based on wood. By examining the interactions among selected factors of constructions and their users, the study reacts to the global challenges that call for increased efficiency and sustainability in construction. The examination of the interactions among the selected factors offers more extensive knowledge in the field of constructions based on wood and points towards possible innovative approaches for more sustainable housing and for a more efficient construction industry. The analyses showed that the key aspects that determine the sustainability of housing from the perspective of users are the standard of construction workmanship and construction time, which depend on the choice of construction system, cost-efficiency of use, and material composition and floor plan design. These aspects also interacted with other technical and design aspects, which also played an important role in the perception of housing sustainability.

Half a Good House: Flexible Housing For Wellington Home Buyers

<p>Increasing population and changing family demographics are driving the need for new and more sustainable housing solutions. Medium-density housing is recognised as a sustainable approach to accommodate future growth within urban centres, challenging suburban sprawl and creating efficient, affordable dwelling. This thesis explores a process to generate a more progressive approach to medium density housing, favouring individual personalisation over inflexible environments that package the occupier. Through the review of precedents, successful principles were used in a series of design studies that examined the potential for gridded spaces to satisfy flexibility and variation, opportunities for community interaction and integration beyond the site. The design resolution was reached through applying those principles on a residential site in Wellington New Zealand. The final design proposes a new approach to housing through the ‘half a good house’ mantra where the bounds of the home are defined volumetrically (the first half), but the internal spaces and walls are free for the occupier to continually adapt depending on their unique and changing needs. The general principles of the design can be applied to other Wellington sites and contexts. They can also be applied in other cities with similar urban housing problems in New Zealand and Australia. If successful, the principles could be developed into a viable solution to the varying and changing needs in future housing.</p>