Hybridization has become one of the characteristic features of present times, maybe the strongest and the most pervasive in conveying the idea of change itself, of the genetic-technological mutation in every area of the human activities. Starting from the end of the eighties the idea of hybrid has become a synonym of progress and innovation spread across the areas of consumer goods, technology, computer science, but also across culture and custom, from sociology to literature and cinema. The evolution as a combination of two different realities producing a new identity is nowadays accepted as the staple principle of innovation also in the area of technology. In the field of architecture, the term 'hybrid' is mainly associated to the "combination of different programs within a single structure. From this combination remarkable opportunities can arise, transcending the functional dimension itself." (Avitabile, 2013).
RESEARCH AND RELAPSES IN THE APPROACH TO BUILDING PRODUCTION
Hybridization of building solutions and of building components is a recursive topic of the last century that has not, however, had a complete and widespread implementation capable of innovating construction paradigms[1]. On the wake of this, multiple more or less exemplary experiences are developed that, however, tend to amount more to future influences and rarely can be applied to new production models[2]. The theoretical vision of the scenario defined in the “Hybrid systems and technologies for architectural design” research, instead, foresees relapses in the operational approach to modularization of components with a shorter life cycle. This resulted in the possibility of producing them off-site by identifying standardized interface criteria and dimensional specifications that trigger economies of a sufficient scale for a high rate production. In this manner, the intention is to obtain the highest efficiency from subsystems in relation to their life cycle by combining productive procedures and technologies both on-site and off-site, with the possibility of implementing typological adaptations more frequently and less invasively compared to those of the traditional building model. This by means of plug-out and plug- in system of components to be replaced/upgraded/reset that provides the user with the opportunity to make a typologically dynamic customization of the accommodation depending on living conditions overtime and space requirements. The research, continuously verified by the comparison with operators in the production sector, is now facing its second phase with the fine-tuning of technological and typological construction solutions as well as of those of operative production model. In particular, the ongoing activities concern: · Determining the main features of the building and plant engineering structure in the hybrid type building, stating the specifications of both interface and plant engineering type. The research team, together with the partner companies, is elaborating the technological object targets that identify an hybrid building and the related performance technical sheets as starting base for the next research activities; · Verifying the model’s efficiency and competitiveness its life cycle experimentally. The comparison will be made based upon life cycle thinking principles, among plant engineering, maintenance and techno-typological adaptation costs as well as environmental footprint and sustainability. The assessment of the available historical data has revealed significant limits concerning maintenance and revamp interventions, both for the limited dimension of the samples (often related to single real estates assets of small dimension) and for the lack of a scientific methodology in data collection. Therefore, it will be adopted a scientifically reliable life cycle assessment methodology, and parametrical estimation; Verifying the business model based on life cycle profit (management and supply of housing services in the life cycle) in compliance with the traditional real estate model (development and sale). The model will be assessed through interviews to national and international real estates developers, and participating to forum and conferences focused on public and private trends of housing market seeking the ongoing new behaviours and social, economic and cultural changes. The contribution to research to this day has been that of formalizing the theoretical framework related to evolutionary dynamics of design and production projects in the mid- and long-term, starting from assessments referred to the entire life cycle of the housing product, by identifying possible triggering factors of technical, operative and building innovation procedures in hybrid models. The already funded phase that is underway is, instead, aimed at identifying technological and typological solutions that are able to satisfy novel social and market expectations by also incentivizing the implementation of industrialized systems for a greater production capacity. Thus, favoring scale economies as well as an overall greater economic and sustainability of procedures.
[1] For example: the attempt to evolve construction activity in an industrialized method was elaborated by Thomas Edison in 1910; Buckminster Fuller’s “Dymaxion House”; Le Corbusier and his Unitè de Abitation.
[2] For example: Archigam group’s experience with the “Plug in city” project; Kisho Kurokawa’s design by means of a project approach based on the “Symbiosis Philosophy”, which is applied to the Capsule Tower; Giorgio Ceragioli’s research on hybridization in architectural design and on appropriate technologies (Ceragioli 1995).
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