Abstract
This research is based on an open-space apartment building that is designed under the consideration of sub-tropical specific environment, Archilife Symbiosphere One Center (Taipei, Taiwan), from the starting point of habitants' survival, subsistence and succession, to explore habitants' living condition for one year from Oct. 23, 2002 to Nov. 22, 2003. By collecting and analyzing survey data, four preliminary conclusions are made: (1) weekly living meeting could resolve effectively the problems between habitants and the building, while the operation of living organizations, including four committees, allows "symbiotic cycle" to work effectively by assigning public duties to habitants; (2) habitants spend about 30% of their time on spiritual activities, including learning, creating and peer discussion, and the usage of internet is increasing, both of which are beneficial to the deduction of material consumption; (3) water usage per capita for the building is significantly lower than that for Taiwan area; electricity usage per capita is higher, but has decreased gradually after the adjustment of facilities and users' behaviors; input items are mainly related to food, but compared with ordinary family, the reliance on external input is lower, i.e. more self-reliant; as to output, waste per capital is also significantly lower; (4) Living Diary provides a way to understand comprehensively the perspective of users, what they encounter and how they feel in the building, which could be the reference for the adjustment and modification of spatial layout.