Customisation demands in residential buildings in Brazil: an empirical-qualitative cluster analysis based on the Skeleton/Infill System

Abstract The logic of housing production has excluded consumers from the decision-making process, assigning to them the responsibility for adapting the dwelling to their own needs after receiving the keys. This leads to waste of resources, it compromises dwellers’ safety and neighbourhood relations, and reduces a building’s lifespan. Thus, it is necessary to propose strategies to minimise the need for renovations of newly built apartments. To clarify the customisation demands in residential buildings in Brazil, we studied the scope of adaptations carried out by dwellers throughout the occupation span of a sample of 62 apartments in the cities of Sao Paulo and Santos. Based on the collected data, we conducted a cluster analysis, identifying three patterns of customisation demands: (1) alteration of finishing, equipment, layout, and openings; (2) addition of equipment unforeseen in the original design, such as bathtubs and air conditioners; (3) expansion through the addition of common areas with limited access, unclaimed by other dwellers. As the latter two patterns distress the building’s skeleton, needing works managed by specialists, we consider technical and legal approaches to enable them through mass customisation.

摘要：住宅生产的固有逻辑将消费者排除在决策环节之外，仅赋予其收房后自行改造住宅以匹配自身需求的责任。此举不仅造成资源浪费，更会损害居住者的居住安全与邻里关系，同时缩短建筑整体使用寿命。因此，有必要提出相关策略以尽可能降低新建公寓的翻新需求。
为厘清巴西住宅建筑的个性化定制需求，我们以圣保罗市与桑托斯市的62套公寓为研究样本，调研了居住者在入住全周期内开展的各类改造行为的范围。基于收集到的调研数据，我们开展了聚类分析，归纳出三类个性化定制需求模式：（1）对装修饰面、机电设备、平面布局及门窗洞口进行改造；（2）加装原设计未预留的设备，例如浴缸与空调；（3）通过增设其他住户未申领使用的、权限受限的公共区域来拓展居住空间。
由于后两类模式会对建筑结构主体造成损害，且需要专业人员统筹施工，因此我们探讨了通过大规模定制实现此类改造的技术与法律路径。