Capacity is defined as the potential of spaces or forms to accommodate various arrangements of habitations and uses. Capacity should not be confused with the program, which is the specification of functions to be located in a house. Capacity is the ability of the form of the house, room or site to be used in a variety of ways by its residents without having to undergo changes itself.
Capacity works to extend the minimum requirements through the shape and configuration of the space.
For example, a bay window at the edge of a living area defines an area of individual activities connected to the larger room of the household. Capacity is concerned with how a form can be used, not the specification of a lifestyle. The class illustrates the concept of environmental capacity at all levels of residential environments, conceptually in this overview section and culturally in the second segment of the class on cultural patterns of living. The Place of Houses by Charles Moore has an appendix that analyzes activities and the class will review the cultural implications imbedded in the list. In the day to day dwelling environment, repetitive actions of individuals construct spatial requirements for the activities, rituals and artifacts of living.