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The Role of Participation of Users in the Design Process in Achieving Social Sustainability in House Industry in Iran Case Study: Parand Town-Tehran
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Mahmood Golabchi   , Ramtin Khalatbari * , Alireza Fazel |
| Tehran University College of Fine Arts |
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Abstract: (898 Views) |
| Before the invention of computer-aided design, most manufacturing processes were limited to one of two options: mass production or customization. Mass production is the production of large amounts of identical parts. The idea has existed for hundreds of years (the Venetian Arsenal, a shipyard in Venice, employed mass production to produce one ship per day as far back as the 14th or 15th century), but it did not achieve widespread popularity until its adoption by Henry Ford’s Ford Motor Company (Henry Ford’s famous quote: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants — so long as it is black.”). Due to economies of scale, mass production reduces costs significantly, but it prohibits individual choice. The industrialized method of building, which has been in use since World War II for the construction of residential areas, does not leave much room for individual choice. This lack of choice is common when first introducing mass production in car industry. However, other industries have shown that mass production can be combined with individual choice.
This approach is called mass customization. It is a mix between the two systems that attempts to combine the low cost of mass production with the flexibility of custom work. Giving buyers more freedom of choice when it comes to the design of their new house will require their participation in the design process. This method is called Self-building that users can design their own buildings. Although not inherently required, mass customization is often achieved through computer aided design, which allows for more flexible output with little or no additional variable costs (though at the cost of a higher up-front investment). By making the production process more flexible, designs that are tailored to individuals can still be produced industrially. But this approach faced with a challenge in house industry because of lacking standardized design and technology that were exist in other industries.
In 21th century by introducing new technologies like CAD-CAM and robotic methods of construction, this gap was filled so mass customization could be justified economically in the house construction industry. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the role of participation of users in the design process, in order to move towards sustainable construction in the house industry in Iran. The subpopulation of this research was 50 families living in prefabricated house in Parand town in Tehran. The survey tool is a questionnaire which was set up in the 26 questions in multiple-choice format that evaluates social sustainability attributes in prefabricated houses. The result shows that these houses have serious weakness in social sustainability indicators in a way that users had no role in the design process and 75% of them are believed that it is better to go back to the traditional method of construction instead of new methods. Finding of this study indicate that with rapid population growth and demand for housing in the country, housing industry in Iran should move toward mass customization in order to achieve successful sustainable construction. |
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| Keywords: Participation in design, Mass production, Mass customization, Sustainable design |
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Full-Text [PDF 9772 kb]
(763 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Accepted: 2015/07/6 | Published: 2015/07/6
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