NOV-DEC 2021
summation of research
This project constituted the first half of a capstone research studio investigating the forms and benefits that a closer mode of domestic living can have on people in the current age. Our studio first did extensive collective research on the current state of cohousing as well as the complicating factors that have led in many cases to dissatisfaction with current modes of housing. We then studied and designed typical rooms (bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchens) that ranged from the typical to the radical. These rooms and research were then used as the generative element for a small, proto-development of two units of cohousing on a simplified New England suburban site. This proto-project will likewise serve as a jumping-off point for a more detailed and larger cohousing proposal within the coming months.
concept diagrams
The following diagrams describe the way in which the project seeks to identify and stitch together disparate and disconnected individuals into a new container for living. In this new space, the energies of their lives and experiences can blend, creating common enrichments of experience within a central enlarged common area that contains common circulation along with shared kitchen, living room, library, and crafting areas.
architectural drawings
The given simplified suburban site for the project included sloping topography from the west to the east, allowing a grade change of 18 feet. This level change is exploited to allow both units, expressed in the rectilinear and gabled volumes, to have an on-grade entrance. The site is also cut into at the lower level to allow for exterior shared gardening programming. As previously touched upon, the central cylindrical form contains essential shared programming as well as building circulation, including an elevator and spiral stair. Each gabled unit contains two bedrooms, a split-function bathroom that divides space for toilet and bathing, and a upper loft accessible from the central common stair that can be used as a more private living or working space. The goal is that through the building's form and programming, the four residents are encouraged to congregate and share experiences in the central cylinder in a serendipitous manner. Residents may encounter each other within shared spaces, passing on the common circulation, or indirectly through observation of the catwalks present at each level. These encounters may, over time, engender strong new found family relationships as well as the fruitful sharing of life experience between residents.
model photographs and early collaging of precedent rooms
Special thanks to the collective studio environment that produced much of the essential research that formed the groundwork of this project: Kyle Barker, Angel Cao, Daniel Nemec, Emma Palacio, Emily Gleitman, Jennea Pillay, Jill Hopkins, John Branagan, Julia Barksdale, Mitch Godett, Natalie Hoch, and Xiaobei McKean Erasmus.
