An exploration of incremental architecture as an affordable development typology

Incremental approaches to housing construction have long been a typology used around the world. In the context of my work, I define incremental housing as a construction methodology that provides dwellers with the essential elements of a house, allowing the resident to rearrange the fundamental parts to fit their needs, desires, and lifestyles. Through my research, I found that this approach is often a response to the scarcity of resources, be it material, monetary, labor or otherwise. In this thesis, I argue that given the current affordable housing crisis in the US, government officials and developer should explore the use of incremental architecture as a housing development typology. This research uses a case study methodology to examine incremental housing developments in Berlin, Germany; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Hamilton, Canada as precedents for affordable and alternative approaches to residential development. Based on best practices culled from the case studies, I propose an incremental, affordable housing development in Somerville, Massachusetts including architectural diagrams, financial model, and a flexible unit scheme that facilitates the gradual expansion of a given unit. The financial analysis further suggests that incremental housing is a viable and worthwhile typology that developers and cities alike should consider as a new approach to affordable housing development.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Reilly, Marissa(Marissa Elizabeth)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mary Anne Ocampo.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123928

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123928