The Sharifi House in Tehran is a beautiful space-saving home that comes with a set of assembly instructions. Iranian architects at nextoffice designed the house with a series of semi-mobile rooms that can be rotated by a simple push of a button in order to provide extra space and get optimal amounts of sunlight.

The mechanical magic of the house is based on a fixed main volume of the structure, with mobile parts that adapt to the functional needs of its users. Rooms of the first and third floors can be reconfigured for different purposes and seasons.

Related: The Safe House is a Transforming Fortress of Sustainable Solitude

Like most of the plots in the area, the one where the Sharifi House stands is noticeably narrow and long. This limitation allowed for the treatment of the façade as a three-dimensional element, instead of the conventional 2D treatment. The mobile rooms protrude to an extent, depending on the space requirements and weather. Referencing the traditional Iranian house, the Sharifi House implements the principle of dynamic seasonal modes of habitation-it offers modern versions of the winter and summer living rooms (Zemestan-Neshin and Taabestan-Neshin).

In summertime, the house features an open and more transparent volume with large terraces, while it closes down and boasts minimal openings in the winter. The ground floor houses parking and housekeeping rooms, while the two basement floors host the fitness facilities and wellness areas.

If the idea of spending days on the road in a tent or trailer doesn’t sound appealing, consider Stéphanie Bellanger‘s Mobile Mini House. The spacious yet compact concept home is inspired by John Lautner’s Chemosphere house and has an ingenious expanding floor plan that features a bathroom, living room, bedroom, kitchen, and office. Bellanger’s design also has ample storage space for clothing, books, and more.

The Mobile Mini House’s walls and floors run on rails which allow them to easily fan out to a comfortable 252° radius. In case of rain, the home also features a sliding screen. We love the colorful rooms and spaciousness of the design, but wonder about its durability during long trips. Also, it’s doubtful that most campgrounds have plots large enough to accommodate the house. Regardless, the Mobile Mini could one day be an enticing option for travelers who want to rough it while still retaining modern amenities.

M-Velope Transformer House

Architect Michael Jantzen's M-vironments are innovative, smart and good looking structures that are relocatable and transformable. The sustainable structures are like the ultimate fort for grown-ups; one of his M-velopes® is even in this year's Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog's 'WOW' section.

Relocatable M-vironments are made of a wide variety of manipulable components that can be connected in many different ways to a matrix of modular support frames. The frames can be assembled and disassembled in different ways to accommodate a wide range of changing needs.

The M-vironments were developed to accommodate a wide range of markets. With different sizes, shapes, materials, and panel types, the system can be used for exhibit structures, pavilions, play environments for kids, retail spaces, office modules, and many other commercial applications.Wouldn’t it be great to be able change the shape and position of the walls of your house to go along with your mood, or more practically, the weather? Michael Jantzen‘s transformable M-Velope® is just such a structure, offering an inspired approach to designing smaller and more usable spaces. The 230 sq foot flexible space can be rearranged into various positions by moving the slated wood panels on its steel frame. All homes really should have this capacity – to move, change and morph depending on our needs.

Read more: M-Velope Transformer House For Sale at Neiman Marcus | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building 

SLIDING HOUSE

http://www.archdaily.com/16082/sliding-house-by-drmm-in-action

The brief was simple: to build a house to retire to in order to grow food, entertain and enjoy the East Anglia landscape. The outcome was as unconventional as they come. A structure that has the ability to vary or connect the overall building’s composition and character according to season, weather or simply a desire to delight. Wallpaper* took a trip to the site to capture the physical phenomenon in the only medium that serves it justice – film.

Director: Dan Lowe Producer Mags MilanCamera: Dan Lowe, Oly Durey, Jamie Durand Editor: Matt Dollings Music courtesy of: Talvihorros Productions company: Partizan/Darkroom Special thanks to: Jordan McGarry, Lauren Hedges, Ross & Sally Russell, Alex De Rijke

The Hoberman arch was constructed as the centerpiece of the Olympic medals Plaza for the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics.  It was commissioned by Hoberman Associations and is one of the worlds largest transforming structures of its kind. 

In the book 'Flexible Architecture' this structure is classified as being a kinetic geometry, every individual panel is interconnected and move together to retract the screen.  The eloquence and marvel of this structure in action has been the inspiration for our own moving tower investigation.

"This project was designed to offer a kinetic and mechanical solution to a problem that would otherwise be nearly impossible to solve with static architectural components: providing shading across a building facade for both low evening sun and high afternoon sun conditions," explained Short, who created the design for his architecture degree at the University of Oregon.

KINETIC IRIS STRUCTURE

These conceptual three-legged structures have been developed by Najjar & Najjar

Architects to allow Beirut's fishing community to reclaim sections of the coastline

whilst generating electricity for local residents (+ slideshow).

Najjar & Najjar Architects, who have an office in the Lebanese capital, propose

installing the kinetic Iris structures along Beirut's shoreline to provide elevated

shelters that also harness the movement of the waves to generate power.

Studio founders Karim and Rames Najjar believe the structures would help locals

retain public access to the seafront, which has been dominated by private

development in recent years.

"The principal aim of Iris is to reclaim accessibility to the sea," said the

architects. "For centuries, the local population of Ain Mreisseh and Manara lived in

tune with their costal environment, but over the past decade the shoreline has

become a playground for high-end residential developments that aim to turn a

maximum profit by selling off unobstructed views to the sea."

Each elevated structure would function as a public refuge where any visitor can

experience an uninterrupted view of the ocean. "The dweller can experience the

place, the passage of time and its natural forces," said the architects.

The name Iris relates to the shape of the kinetic structures, which were designed to

resemble eyelids. Each one would be connected by an antenna to a buoy floating in

the ocean, propelling an electric generator that relays power to nearby homes.

To demonstrate the concept, the team built a 1:5 scale model and tested it on the

coastline. This was used to create the realistic images illustrating the project. Iris is

also utilised to harvest energy. The kinematic structure propels an electric

generator that transmits, through a network of cables, the accumulated ocean

energy to the dispossessed homes, returning to them what was theirs and

illuminating once again the corners and alleys that now lay in permanent shade of

new high rise structures.

In multitude, Iris would populate the corniche and instil a much needed pulse of

nature in the urban environment as well as offer spaces of intersection and

conciliation: shelters from a lost past and an uncertain future of the city and

windows towards the open sea and contemplative horizon.

CHUCK HOBERMAN