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process of provision of social housing would still be needed and could bring benefits by themselves.
One such change would be to have incentives for the companies to build more flexible initial units.
It is relevant to consider the current post‐occupancy processes to maximize the potential of such a
strategy. In many cases the families distribute the costs and construction over time. Distributing the
costs and being able to self build to save even more money are important aspects to be maintained. This
has direct implications regarding construction and operation aspects for the mass customized product.
For example, pre‐fabricating entire rooms to be combined on site would not be a feasible solution. Pre‐
fabricating panels that can be combined allowing families to build in their own pace as well as using
materials that are familiar to them, would be more feasible.
Co‐design systems such as seen in previous studies [5], [6] could be used not only as an interface
between the product solution space and the families but also as a tool for educating the users and
allowing them to visualize the design solutions. The designer would establish the parameters in the
system which could then be used by the families to visualize and validate their own design solutions
in terms of compliance to building code, urban policies, lighting, ventilation, and structural integrity.
Furthermore, they could see an estimate of costs. Validated solutions could have automatic approval
by the city. One of the reasons for geometric mass customization of housing not being more widely
available refers to the customers not having enough confidence or knowledge to take responsibility for
the design of their homes [17]. However, in this social housing context, the families designing their own
homes is something that already happens. Thus, having an established solution space and the
opportunity to visualize and have problematic situations pointed out before building is something that
could significantly improve the quality of their solutions.
5. Conclusions
Approaches and tools from mass customization could contribute to improve the living conditions
in social housing environments in Brazil. However, evaluations of the current process of provision of
social housing, to determine the possibilities of mass customizing, should include the post‐occupancy
processes. We consider that it would be more feasible and have a higher potential for bringing
significant benefits over time – not only for the families, but also to the city and other stakeholders – if
a mass customization strategy were applied post‐occupancy. It is important to highlight that further
research is necessary to show how this approach could be applied including what role each stakeholder
would have and if the requirements for such roles are within the stakeholders’ current capabilities.
Furthermore, a co‐design system is considered essential to allow the families to manipulate their
solutions as well as to have those solutions validated. Therefore, further research should include
developing such co‐design system and testing it with families eligible to receive social housing units in
Brazil.
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ZEMCH 2019 International Conference l Seoul, Korea