TENTATIVE ABSTRACT

AWKWARDsystems. A Prototype for Sharing

This is a young nation that enjoys both the particularities and the peculiarities of a rich cultural and linguistic mix from more than 200 countries of origin. It is in the confrontation and clashing of cultural elements that new things will begin. The unfamiliar and uncomfortable moments --what we call “awkward”-- are often hastily avoided despite their potential to represent a new type of possibility, a different type of growth. What better place to aggressively interfere with the conventional choreography of sharing space between family, friend and stranger than in the house, the home, the family.

Dwelling units have been more commonly understood as housing provided for 1, 2, 4, or 100 people: the studio apartment for the bachelor, a semi-detached home, a single family suburban home or an apartment block. These are simply different renditions of the standard rectangular box with a pitched roof, a chimney, windows and a front door; homes where we sleep in bedrooms and meet in the den. However, the conventions of the single-family house demands serious attention in a society whose structures of thought, social interaction and communication have nothing to do with classical certainties. We live in a world that copes. Seniors move into annexes of their children’s homes, two young families share responsibilities, and middle-aged couples wish they could sell their properties to move into a joint home with friends. In the light of the emerging demographic of culturally diverse “chosen” families, there appears to be room for a prototype for 7-12 people that provides the infrastructure to both accommodate and emphasize the shift. Architecture is given the opportunity to refigure the singularity of the house as frame and vehicle, by transforming the figure and the plan into a third form--one that is neither known, nor can be achieved, but only dreamt of.

Tracing the new dialect of “yours and mine” in Canada’s multicultural society, this is a series of drawings, fragmentary notes and long quotations from works on criticism and philosophy that challenge the function and acceptable socio-economic structure of a single-family house.

Part exploration, part construction, part fiction.

Author's Statement

SHARE SYSTEMS. A Prototype for Making Family

Canada is rich with an ethnic, cultural and linguistic mix from more than 200 countries of origin. We are largely foreigners in this land, choosing to make it our own. Many have come in search of new opportunities, freedom and safety; each bringing a wealth of knowledge, memories, customs and histories. According to Charles Taylor, the building of a democratic Canadian society “requires a politics that leaves room for us to deliberate publicly about those aspects of our identities that we share, or potentially share with other citizens. A society that recognizes individual identity will be a deliberative , democratic society because individual identity is partly constituted by collective dialogues”. We are part of a young nation that enjoys both the particularities and the peculiarities, of each new culture. It is in the confrontation and clashing of cultural elements that new things can begin. The unfamiliar and uncomfortable moments --what we call “awkward”-- are often hastily avoided despite the fact that they could represent a new type of possibility, a different type of growth. What better place to begin understanding the potential of these times than in the fundamental unit of the house, the home, the family.

I am now Canadian, having spent one third of my life in India, one third in Oman and one third in Canada. I am not alone in what I bring to this country -- this is the norm. I have had many homes in Canada: one that I shared with my immigrant family of grandmother, parents and sister, another where I lived with seven students, once strangers now friends, with backgrounds from Trinidad, the Philippines, small town Ontario, Israel, Shanghai, and El-Salvador, and lastly my student apartment where I lived alone. The constant shift between living with family, friends and on my own has changed me; I make my own family.

This thesis examines, predictively as well as descriptively, emerging living systems that strengthen the growing demographic of culturally diverse “chosen” families. Dwelling units have been more commonly understood as housing provided for 1, 2, 4, or 100 people: the studio apartment for the bachelor, a semi-detached home for the couple, a single family suburban home for the young family or an apartment block for seniors. With a few variations, this has been the general theme. In the light of the emerging reality of the “chosen” family, there appears to be room for a prototype that encourages 7-12 people to live together in one unit. These are distressed times, both financially and socially, where seniors are lonely, young families struggle without household help and middle-aged couples still pay large mortgages in their “empty nest” homes. We cope. Seniors move into annexes of their children’s homes, two young families share responsibilities, and middle-aged couples wish they could sell their properties to move into a joint home with friends. This is happening all around us, and much could be done to provide the infrastructure to both accommodate and encourage the shift.The codependency of “chosen” families is crucial in strengthening individuality and community, thus maintaining self identity while reducing alienation.

This is an experiment.

INTRODUCTION

a vehicle for moments of confusion and curiosity,
providing the infrastructure for mistakes and growth,
and eventually, a place of new opportunity.

PART ONE : Awkward Systems . Living Between Secret and Spectacle

" All of architecture" is colored by the problem of the house". Jean Helion

Jean Helion clearly identifies the house as a key player in the role of the public imagination. Serving as the ideal experimental laboratory for contemporary obsessions, the house is an indicator of architecture's direction and a reflection of culture. It holds a special fascination. Tracing each new dialect of "yours and mine" in Canadian society, this thesis begins to investigate emerging living systems that increase self identity, intensify experience and decrease alienation. 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 is none.