Property developers and estate agents give homebuyers the idea that they have complete freedom of choice and that their individual wishes are granted when they buy their new home. But what the consumer is buying is false freedom. They all buy exactly the same home with a different facade tacked on to suit the particular target group or lifestyle.

'Undeclarably inhabited' is a design study into freedom in dwelling. The project derives from our fascination with freedom. Freedom of interpretation in fact. The individual's freedom to discover. The challenge (and the task) facing us is to make occupants aware of what dwelling can mean to them and to breathe new life into the home to dislodge engrained ideas. We propose constructing a polyvalent space where dwelling is something to be discovered. Consumers need to have their eyes opened. We want them to get to grips with their house and keep hold until they achieve that ultimate home environment. We want to stir them into action by putting the normal run of things out of gear. We seek to achieve that polyvalent space by deprogramming and unsettling the familiar. The upshot being that occupants would become more conscious of the decisions they make, or keep reconsidering them.

The research focuses on the interior, as it is here that the quality of (domestic) life is to be found. It is for this reason that the facade plays no role in our project. Besides, our spatial research takes place within a cube of 600 m3, a fairly average and therefore attainable format. To make the home suitable for everyone and everything we have simulated a human life and created a dynamic programme to go with it. All aspects and possible changes within a person's life are then unleashed on the cube, compressing the programme as this is larger than the available space. This generates a strange hyperfunctionality that can accommodate every possible scenario. Although this hyperfunctionality admittedly produces what at first sight is an unworkable home, this can in fact be inhabited in countless ways. In a permutation of the usual verdict, this house might be described as 'undeclarably inhabited'.

It is essential that occupants find out for themselves how they want to dwell. They will have to 'lock horns' with the house and discover for themselves the adventure of dwelling. Opting for a particular use will bring conflicts on another plane and maybe even frustration. All this means that, when the situation requires, the occupant will move house in his or her own home. In the end, the awareness this brings will free occupants from set ideas about how a home should be, and how it should be inhabited. It is here that architects should acknowledge their responsibility by thinking carefully about the type of fixture (bathroom, kitchen, toilet) and the situation as regards views, daylight penetration and spatial relationships. They then fix everything in place except use. At the end of the day, the coercive nature of multiple, deregulated space produces the sensation of freedom.

Place of education: Groningen Academy of Architecture
Specialization: architecture
Tutors: Ton Venhoeven, Eric Schellevis