Understanding Residential Adaptation Mechanisms During Pandemic Home confinement

The COVID-19 home confinement orders disrupted the traditional balance of residential use, as dwellings that were previously occupied for limited hours had to accommodate a broader range of daily activities. This shift exposed incompatibilities within traditional residential dynamics. This study aims to explore these dynamics and contribute to the development of residential adaptability in similar future scenarios.

Given the extended study period on residential living during home confinement and the need for an inductive approach grounded in residents' lived experiences, this study adopted a qualitative methodology. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with a homogeneous sample of 14 architects and specialists active during the confinement phases. Thematic analysis was conducted using MAXQDA software, involving open and axial coding to identify key themes. To ensure reliability, content validity was assessed through an analytical hierarchy process (AHP), which confirmed and prioritized the qualitative themes in alignment with the research objectives.

Residents' adaptation mechanisms during home confinement were driven by two primary objectives "preventing the spread of disease" (preventive) and "facilitating habitation" (facilitative). The preventive category includes "spatial hierarchy need," "spatial layout and circulation reconfiguration," and "increased significance of service areas," with "spatial hierarchy need" being the most prominent, referenced in 61% of the initial qualitative data and holding 49% relative importance in post-pandemic analysis. The facilitative category comprises six groups: "replacing the city within the home," "humanizing the dwelling," "need for expansive open spaces," "technology utilization," "sensitivity to details," and "flexibility need." Among these, "flexibility need" emerged as the most critical, with a 26% frequency in the data and over 32% relative importance in subsequent analysis, followed by the "need for expansive open spaces," which had a 25.5% frequency and about 29% relative importance.

The study's narrative is divided into two categories: preventive and facilitative. The preventive mechanism reveals a behavioral-spatial pattern encompassing three key themes: establishing a "hygienic hierarchy," "improving spatial layout and circulation," and implementing "cleaning and containment" measures to block contamination. The facilitative mechanism includes themes such as "replacing the city within the home," "humanizing the dwelling," and "sensitivity to details," which sequentially led to an increased "need for expansive open spaces" and "greater flexibility." Additionally, the growing use of "technology" helped mitigate the limitations of the home in terms of flexibility and space.