Typology vs Agency: Flexibility, freedom, diversity, and efficiency in the architecture of ‘Open Building’. The case of Patch 22.

This presentation examines Patch 22 as a case study of the revival of the “Open Building” approach in the 2010s. Its aim is to explore the relationship between architectural typology in collective housing and the spatial agency of residents. The paper outlines the spatial, tectonic, and legal strategies employed by Tom Frantzen, its architect and developer, to create a more sustainable and resilient building through flexibility. Using morpho-typological analysis to compare the dwellings, it assesses the degree of effective freedom available to residents, the spatial diversity of the outcomes, and the efficiency of the strategies. During its first decade, these qualities have stood out primarily in terms of ‘extendibility’. However, the results of the significant ‘alterability; possible within the dwellings’ have been surprisingly homogeneous. Even so, these two types of flexibility cannot be considered independently, and their complete assessment requires a longer timeframe.