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By Sara Hart

House_n (the “n” being the unknown, similar to the variable that guides problem-solving in mathematics and science) is fueled by criticism of a housing industry seen as antiquated compared to other industries, an opinion shared by federal housing agencies and some building industry analysts. Critics argue that digital technologies are creating profound changes in the way people live, work, communicate, shop, and manage resources. Most dramatic is evidence that technology is allowing all these activities to happen in the home, with the most important for baby boomers being the ability to receive medical care at home and remain autonomous as they age.

“The current trend to move to retirement communities or progressive-care facilities will slow,” says Jane Rohde, AIA, a Baltimore-based architect and principal of JSR Associates, a practice specializing in senior housing and health care. Pressure to innovate or perish comes not from the ivory towers of academia but from the baby boomers themselves. Unlike previous generations, boomers are more affluent, educated, and assertive. “They want what they want, and they want it now,” says Rohde, adding that “aging in place”—that is, in the home—is the new paradigm.

Shape grammar. José Duarte, an MIT House_n researcher, has developed a software tool to encode the shape grammar, or design principles, of architect Alvaro Siza. In the 1970s, Siza designed a system (unrealized) to increase user participation in the design of housing in Malagueira, Portugal.

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