Open building in the collective housing of the 21st century: possibilities and limitations

This work focuses on the study of the "open building" principles in the specific scenario of collective housing. The aim of this research is to analyse the possibilities and limitations that these principles offer by proposing and defining possible settings which open up new opportunities and ways of thinking and, in short, offer new alternatives to the conventional production of housing. The research offers a study of the Open Building theory, history and practice, proposing an analysis of the different approaches and possibilities which from the design, user participation, and technological point of view, this kind of architecture offers. In this respect, the research has been built as a tool for further field work regarding the possibility of implementing this way of building in new environments. What the research offers is a thorough examination of the different approaches of Open Building so that later on, the difficulties or possibilities of "physical" implementation can be studies in each specific context.