THE SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTING CLUSTER HOUSING [kent,oh]
Project Overview (Second Year Design Studio I) The project unfolded in two stages: - Single-Family Housing Unit Design - Four Unit Cluster Housing Complex The first stage of the project dealt with the design of an individual, single family housing unit. The project began as a mere precedent analysis. Multiple housing iterations were created in order to work through basic layout problems. Done in a fast, charrette-like way, the studies were un-sited, but issues of climate, orientation,
site and context, plan
and occupancy were worked into the design process. Upon completion of these studies, the project was solidified through the application of formal program and site.
Site Located just off the campus of Kent State University, the site was no more than a parking lot behind a campus administration building. The area was located just of the campus’s Main Street, which provided great retail connections, but poor views.
Process The building unit was a study of compression and expansion; all necessary program was packed into as small a cube as possible with their necessary inter-programmatic connections organizing location. Through the series of precedent studies, it was determined that the rooms could be organized based upon social use. A room such as the living room is commonly understood to be the most public room of the home. However, in an effort to reshape the standard living conditions, the kitchen and dinning room were joined and treated as the most public of spaces. Bedrooms and bathrooms, whose uses dictate little connection to the exterior conditions, were set as the most private rooms. In order to avoid unwanted views in the area, public rooms were placed at the upper levels of the unit, while the private rooms were placed at the bottom. As a result, the family dinner would take place in the largest room with the best views, while bedrooms would be nestled into the lower floor. The programmatic building blocks were then exploded apart forming the circulation between, as well as windows and exterior spaces. Upon completion of this stage, the unit was to then take the form of four clustered units on the site. Using a similar process of compaction and expansion, the units were suspended around the site, as if caught mid explosion. housing formation diagram