Tracing the new dialect of “yours and mine” in Canada’s multicultural society, the following report is a
culmination of literary ideas and design explorations that examine the shifting lines between private and
public space at the different scales of contemporary everyday life. Each is a further investigation into architecture’s delineation of those spaces that frame communal as well as individual identity in every culture and especially at the intersection of cultures.
The “awkward” need not be uncomfortable, but rather can be embraced, for it represents the interface of that which is alien to one culture but familiar to another. Perhaps it embraces a new series of moments in architecture that heighten the varying perceptions of privacy and exposure , that eventually creates a new medium to realize a sense of identity. By playing with the notion of isolation and belonging; seclusion and integration, each exercise will reconstruct a stimulating experience of space, place and meaning where there was none.
( Author's Statement)
(Panel 1)
INDIVIDUAL + FAMILY. Our families no longer consist of mother, father and son, instead we have grandmother, mother, and daughter. Three individuals that still cling to the nostalgia of the familial unit. We live together because it is convenient, affordable and comforting. Learning from the Mobius House, the form of this compact dwelling is manipulated to accommodate three distinct individuals, each with their own schedules, their own requirements and demands. The form of the compact house follows the intertwining trajectory relating to a 24-hour lifestyle of work, play and sleep with only a few moments to meet and greet each other. The section allows for a palpable awarness between private and public by the warping of party walls that create interlocking shared space. Circulation space in the house are flattened into a series of screens that become a negotiating medium between “yours and mine”. The importance of maintaining a visual connection through the rooms become the primary tool that allows individuals to retain their privacy and strengthen community.
The traditional living room is now the study - where talking has been replaced by typing and storey telling is referenced by gmail. The study and the kitchen are the places to gather. The single family house becomes a amalgamated form of two apartments. This isn’t a novel idea as housing typologies in other cultures usually include annexes for the joint family or separate living quarters for servants. Mother and daughter share the bottom floor while grandmother lives on the third floor. By establishing a sense of independence and privacy required by each individual , the house becomes a flexible system of units that maintain their own entrances but are joined at the core. Allowing for the choice of being alone, or being together.
(Panel 2)
FAMILY + STRANGER. The house is a perch; a temporary resting place for a family to grow. The design of this dwelling is particularly interested in inventing new hierarchies; other types of relationships rather than purely narrative spaces that have a beginning and an end. Attempting to design ‘situations’ rather than designating one room per person and making common rooms an after thought, the house imagines spaces to weave into each other, become private around a corner or public when open to the courtyard. Movement and Gesture play a crucial role in the form of the architecture; both filter sporadically rather than be designated as “circulation” space. Public and private become relational and contingent rather than absolute. Both can occur anywhere. Privacy is generated by withdrawing from company and th public is confronted by interaction. The home becomes a retreat and the family finds privacy in spaces like the library and not necessarily the bedroom.
The residents of the house (whom are treated in this experiment as one unit) interact with the ‘stranger’ who visits the site. Traditionally the ground floor of homes are the most public zones , and at each raised level the rooms are more exclusive and private. This house experiments with allowing the public to move fluidly through every level of occupation. Thus it adopts a double spiral form, one for private living the other for public platforms. The structure of the house becomes the tool which mediates between what is exposed and what is hidden. Walls render rooms independent or shared with crafted openings. Instantly they become both connected and independent of each other.
(Panel 3)
INDIVDUAL + STRANGER. This is the most abstract version of what the house is meant to be. It deals with raw confrontation and heightens extremely awkward moments between the occupants of the site. The site becomes one large piece of structure which makes the levels of privacy of the units within the house ambiguous. The lack of orientation allows each occupant or visitor of the site to deal directly with the wall beside them at each moment; by understanding the position they are standing in, who is watching them, who is beside them, then only can the individual understand the concept of the house.
In our egocentric society based on the discourse of “I”, we are still not afraid to show and tell. The project places programs such as bathrooms in very publicly viewed locations, however a physical distance remains which gives the illusion of privacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment