OCT 2021
radical rooms
These drawings of typical domestic rooms (bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens) were produced as part of Home Makeover, a master of architecture research studio led by Kyle Barker at Northeastern University. These drawings were used as research into the conventions of domestic living, and the preliminary design of the resultant building can be viewed here.
This investigation was divided into three phases. First, we each represented from memory normative rooms from our past and present to get onto paper the shape these rooms often take. These are the experienced rooms. We then each investigated a series of precedent rooms that break convention in specific ways to open up the possibility space of design. These are the precedent rooms. Lastly, the project culminated in a design project in which radical new bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens are proposed, each serving a specific function. These are the radical rooms.
experienced rooms
These three rooms represent kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms that I have experienced and are largely normative. These include the bathroom and kitchen of my parent's home and an apartment I used to live in in Quincy.
precedent rooms
These three precedent rooms break typical domestic conventions in compelling ways. The collective kitchen of the LT Josai House, designed by Naruse Inokuma Architects, is oversized to allow the many people who live above in single bedrooms to be able to use it simultaneously. Ishizu House 38, designed by Kioshi Ikebe, splits the functions of bathing and relieving oneself to create a cleaner and more accessible space. Lastly, the Voltaire, designed by SABO Project, packs the functions of bedroom(s), bathroom, storage, and lounge into a single space that can be modified by the end user.
radical rooms
These three rooms (a kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom) seek to radically redefine each of these domestic spaces by introducing an additional layer of use that is related to the room's named primary use. A Kitchen For Growing Mushrooms utilizes the outputs of organic food waste, light, and steam that come from the conventional kitchen to productively grow mushrooms that serve as a visual focal point as well as a source of inputs in the kitchen. A Bathroom That Amplifies Sound paints the conventional experience of using a bathroom as a wasted experience. By adding a dome over an expanded bathroom, mundane activities such as singing in the tub or listening to music on the toilet can become exciting experiences. Lastly, A Bedroom For Stargazing situates the bedroom as a communal place of rest situated at base of a colossal telescope. The soft surface of the bed covers the entire floor surface, and the conical aperture at the apex of the room opens, closes, and rotates to allow a view of the night sky to be seen through the oversized lens.
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. Thank you as well to CAD Lab Studio for providing the drawing entourage that was modified and used to give life to the black and white drawings.
