It is permitted to permit: the changes in the real state product and the contemporary ways of living in Recife

Abstract

This research aims at studying the phenomenon of the real state in Recife and its relation with the contemporary ways of living. Currently, the main housing product offered by real state market is the apartment building whose housing units are designed taking the nuclear family as the social organization ideal model. However the adoption of one single family model not always meets the costumers’ needs. Besides personal aspirations, the social demographic profile of contemporary Brazil presents non-nuclear family structures with varied requirements in relation to their living spaces. In an attempt to satisfy this demand, construction companies permit changes in the original project during the construction phase. The result of this “practice of transformation” is the reformed project that can bear little resemblance to the original project. The study of these changes, observed from the programmatic and dimensional variables, indicates the emergence of two reformed unit types - the transition one and the innovative one - expressions of contemporary ways of living.