Blerim Lutolli

Blerim Lutolli has finished his master studies for architecture at the University of Maribor in Slovenia while his Bachelor studies at the University of Pristina and Czech Technical University in Prague. For several years he has worked on renowned architectural offices like in Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Germany including Pritzker architect Gottfried Böhm in Cologne. In 2015 he founded his own architectural office in Pristina with international team Partners, located in Germany and Slovenia. The office has won several  international commissions and Competitions. Blerim Lutolli is the author of two books, ''Flexible Residential  Housing'' published in Pristina in 2013 and ''Dome'' published in Slovenia in 2016. He is currently doing his doctoral studies at Weimar Bauhaus University in the field of Flexible Housing, supervised by Professor Barbara Schonig and Professor Verena von Beckerath. In the summer semester 2020, he taught the seminar "Lifestyle Changes and Flexible Housing," to Master Students in Architecture and Urbanism at the  Bauhaus University Weimar.

Flexible housing still attracts academic attention for its volatile nature that can adjust to the changing needs of societies. Since its inception at the beginning of the 20th century, flexible housing has always been considered as a means to solve emerging societal needs rather than an architectural trend. With its
promise of flexibility, the flexible housing recognizes the volatile nature of the housing sector and defies obsolescence. The dissertation investigates the potentials of flexible housing as a solution to a number of societal issues that affect housing today, such as cultural and lifestyle changes, demographic changes, changes in households, etc. The research hypotheses that that flexibility is an important consideration in the design of housing if it is to be socially, economically viable. There have been a few attempts at studying flexible housing in Europe, for example in Netherland and in some other few countries. Such studies offer a good understanding of the history and the use of flexible housing in these countries. This thesis seeks to contribute to this debate on flexible housing by focusing on the German context. The main goal of this research is to provide an overview of flexible housing in Germany, its history, development and the current situation. In so doing, the thesis sets to explore to what extent - has flexibility contributed to the improvement of the social situation of the families living there. The thesis is divided into two major parts. The first part establishes the theoretical framework of the research, the methodology and the historical context of the issue. Part two discusses six cases studies in flexible housing and concludes that this type of housing can cope with societal issues.

 Flexible Housing

 Social Issues

Participation

Germany