[project]

 

[program]

design a housing complex with 8 units.  half of the units are to be 1-bedroom, and the other half are to be 2-bedroom.  parking, retail space on the ground floor and at least two means of egress from each unit are also necessary.

 

[process]

i investigated the concept of the vertical neighborhood.  the idea of community is easy to lose in an urban setting.  there is too little space, the streets are too wide, the people are too busy.  fewer neighbors get to know each other in an urban setting than they do in a rural or even suburban setting.

 

i wanted to see if one could improve the quality of the community by treating urban programmed areas as if they were in a more rural setting.  i renamed the areas and attempted to treat them as such:  balconies were now ‘porches’, main stairways were now ‘sidewalks’, apartments were now ‘houses’.