Initial situation and problems

Eco­social housing is facing rising costs and regulatory requirements on the one hand as well as declining resources on the other hand. However, in times of global change, urbanization and changing work environments there is also an increased need for affordable housing and a stronger desire for participation. Therefore a toolkit for self­builders ("Make your City (Smart)" current proposal by our TU Wien team) is currently developed which illustrates a range of inclusive DIY methods and typologies. Thereby Smart Citizens are empowered to participate in design, construction and maintenance of buildings and cities and are enabled to intervene in their cities development.

Motivation

Until now, however, there is a lack of convincing examples that have proved themselves in practice and have managed to ensure both affordability a n d ecological compatibility. We do believe that this can be accomplished by transferring self­building and DIY methods into urban areas and into multi­storey typologies using ecological construction methods. To achieve this a framework is needed to fulfil economic, legal, organisational, environmental and aesthetic concerns. Additionally, scalability from a singular housing project to a new strategy of constructing in general has to be implemented in the midterm, for example regarding an alternative municipal housing board. This is significant for Smart Cities in order to meet the major challenges of climate change and population growth.

Objectives / Innovation

Therefore this demo project aims to develop a multi­storey wooden lightweight construction prototype which is modular and therefore easy to set up and take down again even by self­builders. The prototype ­ with a floor area of approximately 100m2 ­ is designed and built sustainably and its scalability is scheduled for multi­storey residential building. As part of the "Smarter Citizens Building Tour 2018” it will be presented at four Samrt City sites in Austria so that its ecological construction and functioning, its DIY capability and its flexible usability can be experienced by a wide audience.

Anticipated results and findings

The objective is to achieve a positive feedback through the repeated assembling and dismantling processes during the tour to confirm the stage of development of the construction system. Consequentially the prototype should serve as the first step for a subsequent lead project in which the singular DIY­modules are installed in a specially designed multi­storey building or re­used in the renovation of an existing residential building.