Polyvalence of an open plan apartment: Characteristics and spatial organization principles

Abstract

Polyvalence (gr. poly multi, nlat. valentia value - multivalued, ambiguous, multipurpose) is a term that has a wide range of uses in science and art. Polyvalence usually implies different ways (regimes) of using the same space, i.e., the adaptability of space to different human needs, with minimal physical modifications. It is a common opinion in science that the term polyvalence in residential architecture primarily refers to the level of an entire apartment or house, i.e., to the possibility of reorganizing the internal structure (conversion of the premises), which can be seen as a broader interpretation of the term. On the other hand, there is a narrower interpretation which refers to the polyvalence of a part of an apartment, to a particular space or room, i.e., to the possibility of overlapping housing functions at different times in the same space, a so-called open plan. The research considers the concepts of spatial organization in polyvalent residential spaces with an open plan. The scientific analysis of reference sources, the interpretation and analysis of characteristic examples, and the deductive method, were used to investigate polyvalent open-plan living spaces, with the aim of ascertaining their most important characteristics and the principles of their spatial organization.