The average lifespan of a house is somewhere around 100 years. During that time it will see many mutations in household make-up and the associated spatial rituals. So designers are faced with the task of giving form to something that is constantly subject to change. Many studies into flexibility focus on the changeable, on movable partitions and variation in the internal layout. The present study takes not the changeable but the permanent as its departure-point. The permanent, meaning the more durable component of the house or building, constitutes the frame within which change can take place.

The average lifespan of a house is somewhere around 100 years. During that time it will see many mutations in household make-up and the associated spatial rituals. So designers are faced with the task of giving form to something that is constantly subject to change. Many studies into flexibility focus on the changeable, on movable partitions and variation in the internal layout. The present study takes not the changeable but the permanent as its departure-point. The permanent, meaning the more durable component of the house or building, constitutes the frame within which change can take place. The frame defines the generic space, the space in which change can occur.