Abitare l'economia della conoscenza. Architettura e produzione nel progetto della residenza contemporanea

In an era where economic aspects are fundamental, the definition of architectural space and the emergence of new social dynamics are strongly influenced by production methods. In this sense, the transition from an industrial capitalist economy to a post-industrial economy, characterised by the use of information and the importance of knowledge, is beginning to show a series of concrete changes. While profound transformations are occurring in economic, social, and environmental domains, housing, from a typological point of view, is going through a phase of evolutionary stasis. The current forms of housing, in their general layout, are almost never questioned, and the contemporary housing models used as a reference are the same ones produced in previous decades. Specifically, dwellings largely date back to the industrial age and are characterised by a tayloristic architectural vision based on function. Therefore, while the rise of the knowledge economy is beginning to show the effects of changing habits in how people move, live, work, and interact with each other, the living space, on the other hand, has entered a state of crisis. Using an interdisciplinary approach but focusing on architectural aspects, the work investigates the repercussions of knowledge-based production on residential space, and simultaneously, the ways in which emerging contradictions could be resolved. The research therefore proposes to examine the transformations that have occurred since the recent shift between different production methods and to understand whether these changes can challenge existing housing types or even propose new housing paradigms for the contemporary era.