Resilient housing: evolutionary strategies in the face of change and uncertainty

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5821/jida.2025.13560

Keywords:

resilient housing, indeterminacy, raw space, slack space, freespace

Abstract

In a global context framed by instability and uncertainty, resilience has emerged as a critical concept in fostering the sustainable development of socio-spatial systems. This article presents a pedagogical innovation based on the analysis and comparison of nine case studies of resilient housing through a research by design methodology. The primary objective was to identify, through deductive reasoning, the resilient characteristics in the proposed housing projects. This research contributes to the expansion and advancement of the theoretical framework of resilient architecture by addressing the planning of spatial indeterminacy. Across the nine case studies, students identified three categories of indeterminate space that develop the resilient properties of persistence, adaptation, and transformation: raw space, slack space, and freespace. Indeterminate spaces enable inhabitants to self-organize and modify their dwellings according to their aspirations over time.

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Author Biography

Fèlix Breton , Universitat de Girona

Fèlix Breton (Roses, 1994). PhD architect with international mention by the University of Girona (2023). Member of the 'Architecture and Territory' research group and substitute professor in the Architectural Composition area of ​​the Architectural Studies degree at the University of Girona. In 2020, he stayed as a visiting researcher at the School of Arts, Design and Architecture of Aalto University (Finland). He has presented at several international conferences such as ‘Grand Projects in 2021 or ‘Fundamentos y práctica de la ciudad sostenible’ in 2019. He participated in the Venice Architecture Biennale, within the exhibition 'RCR. Sueño y Naturaleza' in the Catalonia Pavilion in 2018. Honorable Mention for his doctoral thesis ‘Arquitectura resiliente en el siglo XXI. Construyendo una teoría a través de ocho casos europeos’ at the Humanities and Arts Award 2023, awarded by the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain (RADE).

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2025-10-28

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