CONTENTS Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 3 CONTENTS 5 List of tables . 7 List of figures . 9 1. Introduction 11 1.1. Background 11 1.2. Problem Statement . 13 1.3. Need for study and design 13 1.4. Research Question 14 1.5. Hypothesis 15 1.6. Aim and Objectives 15 1.7. Methodology 16 1.8. Scope and limitations . 17 2. Literature Synthesis 19 2.1. Flexibility in the context of housing. 19 2.2. Definitions of Flexibility and Adaptability 20 2.3. Importance of Flexibility 23 2.4. Processes of Flexibility 25 2.5. Scale of flexibility 26 2.6. Types of flexibility . 27 2.6.1. „Soft‟ and „Hard‟ Analogy . 28 2.6.2. The Design Ideas to Achieve „Flexible Housing‟ 32 3. Flexibility in Indian Context 41 3.1. Scope of flexibility in multicultural indian housing . 41 3.2. Case Studies of flexible practices in Bangalore . 41 4. Site Study . 49 4.1. Site Selection Criteria and Process . 49 4.2. Site Details . 50 4.3. Site Analysis . 53 5. Design Proposal 57 5.1. Concept 57 5.2. Prototype Design 60 5.3. Massing 62 5.4. Corridors as Community Streets 63 5.5. Bye laws . 65 5.6. Exploring techniques in different layers of home to achieve flexibility 66 5.7. Design Detail Drawings . 70 6. Conclusion . 71 References 73 Appendices . 75