A Simple System for Complex Mass Housing Design Collaborations: A system development framework

Through the lens of participatory mass housing the paper explores the conference theme of simplicity and complexity. A suitable home is a deep rooted desire in the heart of people, and everyone has their own vision of what is a suitable home. Yet the multi-faceted social needs of housing and how they are being designed and developed in mass housing buildings appear too complex and appear too costly that the process would involve direct user participations. The authors have developed a Computer Aided Participatory Housing Design System (CAPHDS) to allow end users (future occupants) become active stakeholders in the design process with the aid of computational design instruments. These tools allow end users to actively engage in the process. The paper describes how a mass housing design process can be broken down into a set of simple tasks that encourage the active engagement and joint development of end users and architects with the proposed design.