CPP ARC 5040- Housing Case Study

Case Studies The study of typologies

Arch 5040: Housing Spring 2019

Jose M. Leon Vy Q. Nguyen Debbie Wang

Table of contents • 1947-48 – Baker House, MIT Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Alvar Aalto

• 1968-71 – Oriental Masonic Gardens New Haven, Connecticut, USA Paul Rudolph

• 1982 – Housing at Mount Rokko Kobe, Japan Tadao Ando

•

1992 – Nexus World Housing Fukuoka, Japan Steven Holl

1947-48 – Baker House, MIT Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Alvar Aalto • Typology – Row, slab • Project Density – 20250 square feet/0.47 acres = 0.015 acres per unit • Number of Units – 192 • Size of units – 140-180 sq ft (smallest) • 7 stories high • Number of unit types – 5 • Private outdoor space per dwelling units – Shared outdoor space not included with the units • Parking spaces per dwelling unit – Not available

Concept The site is located on a heavilytrafficked street along Charles River.

To avoid the view onto the street, a curving plan form was created. No room was oriented at 90 degrees angles to the street. To make this building unique, the windows face diagonally and allow a quieter environment for the user in the dorms.

The stairway is housed in a paneled structure rising up the north side of the building which allows an unobstructed view along its entire length. The free form rooms were built with rustic bricks – the dark red bricks were rough textured with clinkers- but the orthogonal main common room were built in limestone.

Material

Brick Limestone Natural wood Glass Steel

South Façade (Front) - Sun facing Street – automobile & traffic Public Sidewalk

North Façade Pedestrian - Private

Entrance View One main entry for visitors, but also side entrance for the users.

Site Plan Baker House

Elevation (South Facade)

Floor Plan – First Floor Typical room plan

N

Livability

1949 - $12 PER SQUARE FOOT 17,000 STUDENTS PRESENT COST SINGLE: DOUBLE: TRIPLE: QUAD:

$5590 $4945 $4420 $3905

Each unit can get a room based on their needs and cost. The Baker House provides private and public communal space.

Living Circulation Services

Exits Circulation Routes

Horizontal circulation Vertical circulation Common Areas Bathrooms Dorm Garden

Issues

Units are irregular and/or small which makes living awkward.

Unit Types Furniture Open Space Units are repeated based on the location of form; there are 4 different unit types

Number of Unit Types Type 1

7

Type 2

9

Type 3

4

Type 4

7

Unique Unit

5

Total

32

•Couch: The largest type of single room at Baker, named as such because a couch will fit in the room. Couches can range in size from about 140 to about 185 square feet.

•Pie: A mid-size single at Baker House, named as such because of the pie shape of the room.

•Coffin: The smallest room type at Baker House, ranging from about 105-120 square feet.

•Quad: The most common type of room for freshmen at Baker, quads are one large room with two sets of bunked beds.

Quads are about 395-445 square feet.

•Front Double: Among the most coveted rooms in Baker, front doubles are spacious rooms for two people with a beautiful view of the Boston skyline.

Front Doubles are about 300-330 square feet.

2

1

3

4

Natural Light & Ventilation Common room (Bottom left) Dorm room – each room has a window (Top left) Stairway – south facing (Right)

1968-71 – Oriental Masonic Gardens New Haven, Connecticut, USA Paul Rudolph • Typology – Block, courtyard • Project Density – 12.5 acres = 0.84 acres per unit = 3680 square feet • Number of Units – 148 • Number of unit types – 4 • Size of units – 12 feet wide by 27, 39 or 51 feet long • Private outdoor space per dwelling units – about 720 square feet; 1 to 5 ratio • Parking spaces per dwelling unit – 1

Concept The idea for this project was “the mobile home,” or as Paul Rudolph defined it as, “the house of the Twentieth century.” Clusters of four prefabricated mobile units pivoted in pinwheel formation. Each unit has its own private entrance and outdoor space – the arrangement follows a pocket court plan that provides a separate outside space for each family.

The modules follow a stacking organization – they are factory assembled with plumbing, wiring and finishes done at the site.

Demolished in 1981

Material

Prefabricated Concrete

Site Plan Residences are grouped in fours around a utility core.

Axon View

Egress There are 8 exit routes for each unit from their front door to the main sidewalk

Private vs Public Spaces

Total available parking = 165 spaces​ 165 spaces/148 units = 1.11​

​

Each unit is provided 1.1 parking space​ - close to road and main street and pedestrian walkway

Unit Types & Structural Grid 2 bed room unit 3 bed room unit 5 bed room unit

Issues

Prefabricated units limit the width space

Possible 4 bed room unit available; Each module, 12 feet wide by 27, 39 or 51 feet long, cost $17.16 per square foot

Elevations

Unit Design Rudolph built each unit with a set of walls that folded down to form floors, and another set that swings up to enlarge the roof area.

In each house, the lower module contains the living spaces, a second module above it contains 2 or 3 bedrooms. A third module may be added parallel to the lowest one in order to add additional bedrooms.

This stacking organization creates a sheltered outdoor space for each unit.

Livability There is an ample amount of private outdoor space for the residents of each unit. In addition, each unit has their own outdoor space separated by a fence and a share courtyard spaces

- bedrooms - living room, kitchen etc.

Natural Lighting & Ventilation The curve roof on each module unit provides a small clerestory window and also prefabricated windows for other rooms – bedrooms, living room, etc. And due to the perpendicular modular attachment, this allows for lots of natural light and natural ventilation into the homes.

Scale Because of the prefabricated units, the height is a consistent 9 feet high, not including the curved roof.

1982 – Housing at Mount Rokko Kobe, Japan Tadao Ando

• Typology – Vertical Cluster Housing; Tower, • Project Density – 19,935 square feet/20 = 997sf per unit • Number of Units – 20 units, est. unit size 17.7' x 15.7' • Ratio of indoor and outdoor space – 3:1 • Number of stories – 10 stories high • Number of unit types – all units generally are 17.7' x 15.7' in size but due to topography, they vary in types and sizes • Private outdoor space per dwelling units – each unit has a terrace with different views of the sky and green slopes. All units receive ample natural light from the courtyard • Parking spaces per unit – no parking spaces as public transit is the primary transportation in Japan

Housing Concept Tadao Ando found inspiration for his housing design at Mount Rokko through his experience to Thira, Santorini, Greece where white dwellings are built like steps along a slope overlooking the sea.

He loved how this type of dwelling created a compact community life and allowed for both privacy and beautiful vista views for each dwelling.

The initial request was to build on a flat site at the foot of Mount Rokko, but Ando had other ideas. With an incline of 60 degrees, Ando traces the slope of Mount Rokko with geometric shapes using concrete post-and-beam units as the basic module.

Material

Precast Concrete

Entrance View

Every unit is given its own private entrance, private outdoor terrace space as well as a spectacular view of nature and the city.

Circulation and Public/Private Spaces The stairs connecting upper and lower unit clusters acts as a gradation between public and private zones. Ando believed the concept of the alley space or “roji” functions efficiently to connect public and private areas in the city of Japan. He introduces this same idea in Housing on Mt Rokko. The larger buffer zone that opens up at the center between the upper and lower unit clusters is the plaza, while the open passage linking dwellings, and the stairs traversing this passage, act as 3D “roji”.

Site Plan & Context In Japan's dense community, public transit is the main form of transportation. That's why Rokko Housing does not provide parking for its residence but rather, a bus stop is within a 15 minutes walk away.

Public & Private Spaces

Unit Organization

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

The building is composed of framed construction units of 17.7' x 15.7'. Although, because the shape of the slope is converted into these geometric forms, this unit module shifts and adjusts according to the topography.

Housing on Mount Rokko has 20 different units.

Issues

Level 4

Level 5 & 6

Level 7

Possibly a problem for senior citizens due to the topography

Egress: 3 Routes Structural Ordering System

Level 8

Level 9

Level 10

Livability Through the method of shifting and stacking units, the composition of the plan seeks to generate 3D gaps that become terraces for individual dwellings, the common plazas, stairways and paths cutting fissures into the interior architecture. This creates opportunities for nature to flow into the architectural frame as well as provide air flow into the contemporary living spaces.

Central Plaza

Natural Light & Ventilation

Rooftop terrace

Gaps within architecture provide natural ventilation throughout the building.

Natural light into interior spaces

1992 – Nexus World Housing Fukuoka, Japan Steven Holl

• Typology – Row, Tower, Courtyard • Project Density –45,671 sq. ft./ 1.05 acres = 0.0375 acres per unit • Number of Units – 28 • Size of units - 1,528 sq. Ft • 5 stories high • Number of unit types – 5 • Private outdoor space per dwelling units – small private outdoor space and common meditation space; 2 to 3 ratio • Parking spaces per dwelling unit – 1 per unit

Concept The site is located on a heavily form hinged space to the silence of void space. Four active north facing voids interlock with four quiet south facing voids to bring a sense of the sacred into domestic life. To ensure emptiness, the south voids are flooded with water, generating flickering reflections. The 28 apartment interiors are conceptualized as "hinged space," a modern interpretation of the multiuse concept of traditional Fusuma.

Diurnal hinging allows expansion of the living area during the day, reclaimed by bedrooms at night. Episodic hinging reflects change in family over time; rooms can be added or subtracted accommodating grown-up children leaving or elderly parents moving in. A sense of passage is heightened by three types of access, by allowing apartments to have exterior front doors, and by interlocking apartments like a complex Chinese box.

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Material

Concrete Natural wood Painted wood Glass Steel Aluminum

West Façade (front) Street – automobile & traffic Public Sidewalk

East Façade Pedestrian - Private

Elevations

Floor Plans

N

Egress There are 2 main stair corridors at the two ends of the building with 3 secondary exits in the middle of the building. The route for each exit takes you out to the parking lot behind the building.

First Floor Plan Structural Grid

Issues The means of egress on the fourth is confusing because of the interlocking shape of the units in the forth floor. The forth floor does not have a corridor running along the outside of the units like the other floors. This part of the building might be confusing to individuals trying to get to and exit stair.

Unit Types The 28 dwellings correspond to 18 variants of five basic types: "L" (floor plan in L shape), "I" (straight floor plan), "D" (two level unit), "DI", "DL". These variants are intertwined in plan and section, thus interconnecting the different courtyards.

Number of Unit Types Type 1

6

Type 2

5

Type 3

5

Type 4

6

Type 5

6 Total

28

1st level Horizontal circulation 2nd level Horizontal circulation 3rd level Horizontal circulation

Livability

The project consists of 5 basically uniform blocks laid out around 4 South facing water courts. These water court yard are used as spaces for meditation and points of social interaction. Steven Holl designed these 'void' spaces for meditation, in order to isolate the individual from the everyday lives of the houses.

Natural Lighting & Ventilation

Every unit can be configured in various ways depending on the time of day and use. The hinged doors can open of and create void spaces that allow for natural light and ventilation to come into the unit from the south, west, and east side of the unit.

1947-48 – Baker House, MIT Housing Comparison • The Baker House is designed as a dormitory where everyone shares a bathroom and some people share their units with a roommate. The other housing projects are Apartment units that are designed for families and long-term living • When it comes to the tower system housing, the units tended to have a larger shared courtyard space with/without a smaller private terrace/ balcony.

• All the housing projects are constructed with durable materials such as steel, brick and concrete, which allows the projects to last for more than a decade.

• Within every housing project, they have different unit types to express more individuality. This provides variety for each user and their needs. In addition to individuality, all the housing projects have a goal of achieving different views.

• Parking spaces are provided depending on location. For example, the Baker House is part of a University site and so parking is a shared location. In Japan, public transportation is widely used among the public and so Housing at Mount Rokko did not provide any parking spaces for its residents. At the Oriental Masonic Garden, parking is provided in close proximity to the units.

• In conclusion, each housing has their own benefits and downfalls, and this has to do with location, site area, and user needs.

When the site area is limited and there is a high demand for units, the tower design is the better fit. When there is more than enough site area, as seen in the Oriental Masonic Garden, there is more room to provide residents with private spaces and individualization.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Alvar Aalto

1982 – Housing at Mount Rokko Kobe, Japan Tadao Ando

• Typology – Row, slab

• Typology – Vertical Cluster Housing; Tower,

• Project Density – 20250 square feet/0.47 acres = 0.015 acres per unit

• Project Density – 19,935 square feet/20 = 997sf per unit

• Number of Units – 192

• Number of Units – 20 units, est. unit size 17.7' x 15.7'

• Size of units – 140-180 sq ft (smallest)

• Ratio of indoor and outdoor space – 3:1

• 7 stories high

• Number of stories – 10 stories high

• Number of unit types – 5

• Number of unit types – all units generally are 17.7' x 15.7' in size but due to topography, they vary in types and sizes

• Private outdoor space per dwelling units – Shared outdoor space not included with the units • Parking spaces per dwelling unit – Not available

• Private outdoor space per dwelling units – each unit has a terrace with different views of the sky and green slopes. All units receive ample natural light from the courtyard • Parking spaces per unit – no parking spaces as public transit is the primary transportation in Japan

1968-71 – Oriental Masonic Gardens New Haven, Connecticut, USA Paul Rudolph

1992 – Nexus World Housing Fukuoka, Japan Steven Holl

• Typology – Block, courtyard

• Typology – Row, Tower

• Project Density – 12.5 acres = 0.84 acres per unit = 3680 square feet

• Project Density –45,671 sq. ft./ 1.05 acres = 0.0375 acres per unit

• Number of Units – 148

• Number of Units – 28

• Size of units – 12 feet wide by 27, 39 or 51 feet long

• Size of unit – 1,528 sq. Ft

• 2 stories high • Number of unit types – 4 • Private outdoor space per dwelling units – about 720 square feet; 1 to 5 ratio • Parking spaces per dwelling unit – 1

• 5 stories high • Number of unit types – 5 • Private outdoor space per dwelling units – small private outdoor space and common meditation space; 2 to 3 ratio • Parking spaces per dwelling unit – 1 per unit. 29 parking spot total.