Open spaces in housing design: architecture conception and residents' appropriation

Abstract

This research seeks to investigate the relationship between the design of multifamily housing open spaces and the appropriation by residents in these environments. Motivated by the discussions in the literature about the importance of open spaces in the integration between housing projects and the city, in the dynamization of life, and in sociability among the residents, this research seeks to analyze the design on a scale that has not yet been much investigated, in the relationship between the building and the city. This research aims to investigate how open spaces are conceived by architects and how they are appropriated by the dwellers in housing ventures produced between 2007 and 2016, in the state of São Paulo. At first, it seeks to analyze the requirements in the regulations of housing programs and the design conception that guided the plan of the open spaces. Secondly, it seeks to evaluate the appropriation by the residents, identifying if their usage is potentialized as open space and leisure space, or if there are processes of underutilization, depredation, or usage alteration. The research's approach is qualitative, combining different methods.The bibliographic review allows a general view on the discussions about housing politics, quality in housing design, appropriation by residents and open spaces design. From this broader observation, it will be possible to investigate the housing production in the proposed territory and period. Later, will be held a deeper documental and bibliographic research to improve the parameters to define which housing ventures to be studied, wherein will be performed the analysis of urban and architectural design and a grounded theory, including field observation, interviews, and the behavior and usage mapping.This research aims as result the contribution for the discussion about the quality of the housing design produced in Brazil from the relations between the proposed open spaces and the dwellers' dynamics of the life. (AU)