GOOD NEIGHBORS

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Program:

Lei Wang, Bobby Zhao (Inhabiting Mass); Bryan Hensen, James Metzger (Core Yards); Rebecca Liu, Mahrukh Mubarak (Shifting Edges)

Miguel Guitart, Michael Hoover

Fall 2022

ARC501

3.5-YR MArch

Can architecture foster neighborliness?

Buffalo is commonly known as the City of Good Neighbors, thanks to its tightknit communities and neighborhoods. This graduate design studio, the first of the 3.5-year Master of Architecture track, asks students to engage in a formal exploration of individuality and collectivity in a neighborhood setting. Working at a domestic scale that links the unit with the complex, students reflect on the social implications of the built environment through an iterative design process. For most students, this studio is the first approach to architectural design.

In this framework, “Good Neighbors,” introduces students to critical thinking on fundamental architectural issues through the design of three houses for three specific families. The studio brief indicates that these families share an undivided lot in Buffalo’s East Side. Student proposals also include three workspaces for painting, writing, and music composition for one member of each family. These workspaces are to be independent of the houses.

Connections can be spatial but not physical. The studio focused on the exploration of space, place, program, light, material, and function, among others.

In order to develop design skills, the studio prioritizes model and graphic content. Each student is given the ability to find the elements of the discipline that resonate with them and carry those with them to subsequent semesters. Through production and discussion, studying architecture becomes a way to understand and uncover spatial sequences.

Inhabiting Mass

Excavating soil is frequently a byproduct of building construction, often resulting in serious environmental consequences. This project seeks to eliminate waste by incorporating excavated soil into the construction of rammed earth walls, standing four-feet wide to increase passive insulation and a net-zero approach. Inhabiting mass in these houses promotes a more responsible way of life, reflecting a greater sense of care for the environment and minimizing energy consumption.

Window openings are carved out in the mass to direct views and natural light, while interior walls are carved out to allocate storage, bathrooms, and kitchens. Inward sloping roofs help collect rainwater into the atrium following the impluvium tradition.

Core Yards

Core Yards reflects on the need for privacy in residential backyards, considering them as extensions of the home. Studying the prevalent domestic architecture in the area, the design identified a pattern emerging from the procession of back-to-back houses. While an efficient use of space, the traditional location of the backyard means neighbors are sharing the space, separated only by a figurative lot line, and lacking privacy.

In contrast, this project positions building volumes in a U shape to embrace a central core-yard, staggering a series of smaller volumes around with different domestic programs. The outer shell becomes a barrier that protects the privacy of the core-yard space, which remains intimately related to the house it serves. The workspaces that complete the program interact with core-yards and houses, the deck serving as a plane of relations with the surrounding living spaces.

“The whole studio revolved around being part of a community. For my partner and me, a large part of the process was having an open dialogue about the direction of the project. This process allowed us to distill what being a community member meant to both of us.

- James Metzger

Shifting Edges

The design of physical transitions from room to room within the domestic space accentuates the home living experience. Looking to promote this transition, Shifting Edges scales volumes and locates openings strategically to guide residents by the shifting walls.

The flow of functionality in daily activities determines the allocation of the rectilinear volumes. With floor-toceiling North-South facing windows, interior lighting shifts constantly throughout the day. The different geometric forms deliver a functional and unique architectural experience. As the project reaches its site boundaries, the shifting edges of human lives start and continue to the story of shifting in another realm.