Rethinking Housing: Designing for Changing Relationships Beyond the Nuclear Family

A designboom feature examines how contemporary architecture can accommodate evolving household structures, moving beyond the nuclear family model. The article traces the historical standardization of family apartments, from postwar Japan's nLDK formula to England's housing regulations, and highlights projects that challenge fixed room-to-family correspondences. Kazuyo Sejima's House in a Plum Grove (Tokyo, 2003) divides a 77-square-meter home into seventeen small spaces, allowing flexible use. Her Gifu Kitagata (1998) treats rooms as combinable units. June14 – Meyer-Grohbrügge & Chermayeff's Kufu 142 in Berlin (2019) creates interlocking towers where apartment boundaries can shift. Apparata's A House for Artists in Barking (2021) uses double doors between living rooms for optional connection. Clemens Kirsch Architektur's Housing for Single Parents in Vienna (2020) integrates shared facilities and glazed loggias. Ashish Gangwar's 2024 University of Toronto thesis, 'A Home for many Houses,' draws on ballroom culture's chosen families. The article argues that buildings outlast households, so floor plans should anticipate changing relationships.