How Buildings Learn - Examples of housing in Previ

The evolution and progression of buildings has been the subject of many books and reports but none as significant as that of Stewart Brand, in his 1994 publication "How Buildings Learn: What happens after they are built". Underlying his approach is an argument for standardised systems and layouts, low-cost materials and non-expert building techniques all to support the added utility of flexibility and adaptability over the long-term.

Cover of "How Building Learn" with a visual example of matching buildings transforming over time. 

The ideas formed the basis of a BBC TV series in 1997.



The ethos and ambitions are similar to the initial project brief for the Previ housing experiment and have lead to us begin to research and model the chronological development and progression of several of the housing typologies to see what has happened to them over the last 40 year period and as importantly to understand who has been responsible and involved in these changes.

The first set of properties below is based on existing published materials for Lotus Architectural Journal and later by García-Huidobro (et al 2008) that we have extracted and animated to show the chronology of changes. They show the original work of the architects Van Eyck (the development of the property of the familia Garcés) and James Stirling (the development of the property of the familia Zamora).

The development of the property of the familia Garcés.

The development of the property of the familia Zamora.

Here there are two examples of distinctive modernist architecture transforming over time into a local vernacular housing types. 

References: Brand, S (1994) How Buildings Learn: What happens after they are built (Viking Press, New York). García-Huidobro, F., Torres Torriti, D., Tugás, N. (2008) iEl tiempo construye! El Proyecto Experimental de Vivienda (PREVI) de Lima génesis y desenlace, (Gustavo Gili, Barcelona).