Usman Haque & Adam Somlai-Fischer with the Reorient team.

The Reconfigurable House is an environment constructed from thousands of low tech components that can be "reconfigured" by its occupants. Any sensor/actuator can be connected to any other sensor/actuator -- it is the occupants of the house who determine the systems that run inside it.

Constructed at ICC in Tokyo, Japan, and open to the public from April 2007 - March 2008, the project was a challenge to ubiquitous computing "smart homes", which are based on the idea that technology should be invisible to prevent DIY. Smart homes actually aren't very smart simply because they are pre-wired according to algorithms and decisions made by designers of the systems, rather than the people who occupy the houses.

In contrast to such homes, which are not able to adapt structurally over time, the many sensors and actuators of Reconfigurable House can be reconnected endlessly as people change their minds so that the House can take on completely new behaviours.

see haque.co.uk/reconfigurablehouse.php and house.propositions.org.uk/

Built with 1000s of hacked toys and gadgets, controlled by Arduino and Processing, and configured by members of the public.