COSMO HOUSE by Mohammad Mazharul Haque

COSMO HOUSE

Diversified Living for Neo-Nomads

Copyright © 2019 Mohammad Mazharul Haque All rights reserved. No part of this publica�on may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmi�ed, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior wri�en permission from the copyright owner.

COSMO HOUSE Diversified Living for Neo-Nomads

Mohammad Mazharul Haque

Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in Architecture

Susan Piedmont-Palladino Paul Emmons Matt Dreher

May 15, 2019 Alexandria, VA

Keywords: Cosmo House, Complex Housing, Diversified Living

COSMO HOUSE

Diversified Living for Neo-Nomads MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE ABSTRACT (Academic Audience)

'Cosmo House' is a new idea of living. The people are leaving their home for different life purpose and setting up a temporary home in a new place in a new city. The world has already many cosmopolitan cities. What if there is a new housing type named 'Cosmo House'. It is not a permanent house to live, not so temporary living as like hotel & dorms. It is something in between, it must have some certain design considerations which serve the purpose of those new nomads. 'Cosmo House' is an experience of living where people come to live for few years and can engage with other people, events & experiences and such way they feel it is their new home away from home. The site is in Newark downtown in New Jersey which is a perfect location for international students who study in nearby universities and for international professionals who commute to work in Manhattan & nearby areas. The thesis seeks for an experiential living system in 50000 square feet of a lot where a complex housing mass generates from a concept. It has many grounds, roofs, and neighborhood blocks within the 28-story building. 'Cosmo House' has many small, medium & large social spaces for its many usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; group to carefully generate engagements among them and experiences of home. It also connects the tenants to the neighboring people with shared experiences and thus makes the building an integral part of the city too. The experiences of 'Cosmo House' can be universal and adjustable depending on the context where it is built. A new nomad will search for a 'Cosmo House' when he moves from Newark to another city in this world and will always live at home. The concept of home is not restricted to a place where he thinks he belongs but he can carry his home from one place to another place and will always feel at home.

III

COSMO HOUSE

Diversified Living for Neo-Nomads MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE ABSTRACT (General Audience)

Imagine, one is moving to a new country leaving his home behind. Once lands in a new country, he has to adapt himself in a new living condition. Very soon he gets homesick. What if, he could just live in a similar home as like he used to live in his country. Pactically, it is not possible to live in the exact same house in a completely different contextual condition. One can not live a house like Saudi Arabia in cold weather like New York City. But maybe he can expect a house which can make himself feel home. Human should not adjust himself, rather home should adapt to the need for Human. A cosmo-house is the concept of new housing typology which accommodates the needs of this neo-nomad in a new city. Their scale can be changed depending on the contexts of different cosmo-cities. But the idea is same the cosmo-house is for the cosmo-people where certain programs of a building are present. It is diversified living by diversified demographic who start to live here for a temporary period but can engage in many interactions and experiences. When there are interactions, experiences, memories are created there. The new memory should help the neo-nomad people to feel the cosmo-house as their home away from home. Who once lives in a cosmo-house carries the concept of home. If he moves to a new cosmo-house to a new city, he actually carries his home with him. He will be always in his home any part of the world in a cosmo-house.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to sincerley thank Susan For continuous support from my graduate admission in WAAC to the end of my thesis as the committee chairperson. I am and will be always thankful to you. Paul For your critical feedback, insightss and references throughout the thesis. Matt For you mentorship, motivation and professional perspective in my thesis. WAAC I can not mention one name but throughout my academic life there I am thankful to the school, the people, my faculty and my friends there.

And special thanks to Sumaiya For your support especially in model making. Asif For the brotherhood you showed me during my stay in Virginia

DEDICATION I dedicate my thesis â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Cosmo-Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to my wife Shamima and my parents back in Bangladesh.

VII

VIII

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

SITE + PROGRAM

CONCEPT + DESIGN

EXPERIENCE

INFERENCE

APPENDIX + BIBLIOGRAPHY

COSMO HOUSE

INTRODUCTION

COSMO LIVING

Extensive globalization has brought many changes around the world including changing demographics in the large cities. The word cos路mo路pol路i路tan means including and containing people from many different countries. Cosmopolitan is quite different from metropolitan, and it refers to a sense of harmony between a large population of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. A cosmopolitan city is one where a multitude of cultures is represented. These major cities are spread throughout the world. The world has now Dubai, Singapore, New York, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and many cosmopolitan cities. Nowadays people move from one city to another city for many purposes, mostly work, business or study. Thus many cities in the world now have to habitat people from many demographics and cultures. Those cities become cosmopolitan. In a cosmopolitan city, often we find there are areas inhabited by people from certain demographics and culture. For example, we see China Town, Little Italy, Latin, Indian, Arab, Jews and many small neighborhoods in a city. People come to a new city intend to live in that certain neighborhood to feel like home.

COSMO HOUSE

Some of the most cosmopolitan cities around the world

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

The idea of my thesis has come from my personal experiences after I move to the USA from my home country Bangladesh. I moved from my birthplace Dhaka to the state of New Jersey first. Started living in a suburban housing community for one year and after a year I found I did not have much opportunity to interact and experience events because of lack of common grounds and overly dependence on cars. I felt isolated and was missing my typical spontaneous life back home. On the other hand, there are some areas in New York where I found Bangladeshi neighborhood but people there are too involved with their own people. People living in a cultural island lack the opportunity to mix with the greater community and other cultures. That has a negative impact too, as over the time people feel isolated beyond their threshold. I realized one of the better ways to live away from home is living with people with the same culture but living simultaneously with other cultures. In that way, one feels as like home and also can broaden their idea of home.

COSMO HOUSE

I have lived in the apartment building designed by Meis van der Rohe where I met another Bangladeshi family after a year. Unfortunately, we never met in common lobby where we pass maximum 10 minutes a day. I believe if an apartment complex can offer more common spaces where residents can spend more time, the chance of interaction increases too.

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO PEOPLE Many countries has different reasons to get migrated by people around the world. If we see the numbers, we can see curently around 2 millions of people come per year to the USA with non-immigrant visas. That means they enter here for some temporary reasons to stay here temporarily. According to the statistics, among those people around 770,000 people come to the USA as international students or exchange scholars. Besides, around 820,000 people come as temporary workers and exchange workers. With those students and workers, around 200,000 people come as dependant as spouse and child.

This huge demography of non-immigrant people has variance in there living styles and capacity. For example, I came to the USA with a dependant visa with my wife who had a student visa. My visa requires me not to engage with any work. So, I could not capitalize on my previous skills and experiences here because I was not allowed to work that can get monetized. Thus being an educated and skilled professional, I had to waste my valuable 2 years just living idly here in New Jersey. Even, the students are required to work only on-campus in most cases. They get 1 to 3 years of work authorization after completion of a degree. Like this, people with work visa can not change profession as random. They have to go through certain procedures and they also have limitation in duration and so on.

COSMO HOUSE

There are more than 20 major categories of nonimmigrant visas, covering different reasons for travel. The five most common types are business travel/tourist visas (B-1, B-2), student visas (F-1, M-1), exchange visitor visas (J-1), crew member/transit visas (C-1/D) and specialty worker visas (H-1B).

Taking into consideration, the most significant visa categories we find workers, students, entrepreneurs, investors, athletes, and artists. Workers come here for an initial 3 years and can extend to another 3 years. Students come here for the duration of study of the course and can extend their stay by obtaining work authorization for 1 to 3 years. Entrepreneurs come for 2 years to live up to 3 years. Investors get a 1-year initial visa and then can stay another 2 years on condition. Athletes can stay for an initial four years then extend to another 5 years. Artists can stay for one year. So the overall scenario is most of the people who come to the USA with a temporary visa can stay 3 years on average. So, if we look into the number, 2 million people per year come to the USA and plan to live in this land for 2-5 years, then we must consider the fact is quite significant. We need to give importance to these people and how they should live here for the time being. They all leave their home country for some purpose and they deserve to live here as a homely environment and they should be able to make their time and energy count as purposeful.

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO HOUSE

SITE + PROGRAM

THE CONCEPT

The idea of this thesis is imagining a cosmopolitan house in a cosmopolitan setting. Let us agree on Newark, the city in the state of New Jersey is another city with people from different demographics and in such setting, we need to imagine the idea of the cosmopolitan house. What we call cosmo-house. We can not create a cosmopolitan city in years but we can create a smaller version of the city, maybe a neighborhood, or most possibly a house that requires only a lot and a building. The world is increasingly having a new kind of people. They are called neo-nomad, they are modern people but they have to move to one place to another place for different reasons. These neo-nomad people usually chose cosmopolitan cities to start living in a new country. What if, now they also have an option to live in a cosmopolitan housing. The house offers diversified people, culture and experiences and fulfills their specific requirements. Someone lands in a new city and now going to search ‘cosmo house near me’ instead of ‘hotel/dorm/house for rent near me’. Like other specialized housing like elderly housing or cohousing, cosmo house must have some functional features which will satisfy the needs of this cosmo-people for the time being they are living here.

COSMO HOUSE

THE PLACE Newark in the state of New Jersey is the city which is a very good place to live for both the professionals and the students. It is just 30-minute commuting distance from Manhattan, NY which can offer a vast amount of people to live here. It has also a university area consists of New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and Essex County College in walking distances and thus it is an area for the students to live too.

The city of Newark has the many masterplans going on by Newark Planning Office. One is Newarkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s river (the Passaic river) public access and redevelopment plan. According to that plan, there will be planned redevelopment across the Passaic river which will ensure public access along the river. The buildings will be allowed to go up to 30 stories and mixed-use developments are permitted. This plan will open up for the possibility of huge development in this area. It has already started with many 20 stories plus building projects. The site has been chosen from possible 4 development-able vacant lots. Number 1 site annotated in next page is the site which is in a very prime location, just 2-minute walk to the NJPAC light rail station and 10-minute walk to Newark Penn Station with the connection to the major road and most importantly the Passaic River. The site is just across New Jersey Performing Art Center and close to Prudential Center, NY Redbulls stadium, Military Park, Newark Museum and other important establishments.

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

Newarkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s river : Public acces and redevelopment plan (orange outline) and surrounding establishments

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

The project’s site is a lot of 56,058 square feet with different setbacks on different sides. 0’-0” setback is on an active street, 6’-0” a setback is in general, 3’-0” a setback is on the side and 20’-0” a setback is on the back. Building height has a limit of 30 stories or 360’-0”. The maximum area after a setback is 50,657 square feet. Maximum buildable area is 1.519,710 square feet. Estimated unit numbers in the project are around 500. The site has many major and minor place of interests around it. Many development projects are already going on. This is going to be another addition to this development zone, and a new identity to the city of Newark, NJ.

COSMO HOUSE

The Site MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

The site is the corner lot of 75’ Center Street and 85‘ Mulberry Street and has direct access to the 120’ wide McCarter Highway. A light rail route goes just adjacent to the east of lot line. The site has the public access to the Passaic River to it’s east.

COSMO HOUSE

Analyzing buildings typology of uses, we can find the surrounding neighborhood is a mix of commercial, residential, mixed-use, hotel, federal buildings, theater or stadium, church or religious, transportation hub, parking garages and open spaces as a park. The diverse use of buildings in a neighborhood usually gives us the idea of putting diverse activity in one space. For example, if a neighborhood is a horizontal scale, a building with diverse functions is the vertical scale. What if, we get residential, commercial, retail, theater, parking, garden in a vertical form, within one complex building.

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

PROGRAM ANALYSIS The main user group of cosmo-house is the temporary immigrant people we discussed before who are mostly students, working professionals, investors, entrepreneur, artists, and athletes. Before designing a house for these people, we need to understand what housing type they need. Do they need already existing solution or do they need something new solution? If we look at different living typology, we can get a comparative idea. For example, a very basic living situation is living in a house. People move in a house for a temporary period to a more longer period, a house can be a solution for a lifetime for a generation or multiple generations. If we analyze the spaces and functions of the house, we can find it has many private spaces like a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living, dining to more public spaces like balcony, common lobby. It may lack other features like swimming pool, laundry, library for which a house owner or tenant has to rely on the neighborhood. Then there is apartment living where multiple units exist together and they may share some common features which are mostly public. Another form of living is dorm living for most students where they live for a temporary period and most spaces are public with private bedroom and bathroom at best. The dorm has more common features for sterilized needs such as a library, play area, etc. For business travelers or even someone who visits a city for a few days or maybe weeks, the most common living system is a hotel. The hotel has some standard program organized by private rooms and bathrooms with common facilities varying in different hotel categories. Another new form of the hotel is home-stay or paying guest, in recent time popularly known as Airbnb where someone can rent another personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house for a temporary period and use a room or whole house to live with some restrictions in use of other spaces of that house. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the most modern form is co-living where y young or certain group of people plan to live in common house to share common spaces and responsibilities.

COSMO HOUSE

Another well established idea of living is co-housing. Co-housing is mostly a living system where a certain number of families plan to build a living system which accommodates those familiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; housing need for a long time. They live there when they have many things in common. As they are involved in the whole process from initiation to living in it, co-housing is a very interesting form of living. While we get the users of the cosmo-house and we have a comparative idea of living in the different housing system, we try to find a program for the cosmo-house and where the idea of cosmo-house stands in the comparative housing system chart. Cosmo-house is something similar to co-housing but it may not be built by the cosmo people but certainly is built for them. With a basic units system which is consist of bedrooms, living, dining, kitchen, bathrooms, cosmo-house should provide many common functional spaces like hotel, apartment complex or co-housing which can fulfill certain needs of those cosmo people. For example, a dependant who is not able to work and stay idle in the house may have the scope to learn a language or craft, hence providing a space for language club or craftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s studio may provide him or her the opportunity inside the cosmo-house. Again, maybe a couple who are here in work visa may have a small kid who they need to drop in daycare without commuting for it, may find it very helpful if such facility is there within a cosmo-house. So the idea is to find out as much as the needs of those cosmo people and facilitate those needs depending on the scale of one cosmo-house.

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIVING AND THEIR PROGRAMMATIC COMPARISON

HOUSE

APARTMENTS

BEDROOM BATHROOM LIVING DINNING KITCHEN PARKING BALCONY TERRACE LAUNDRY GARDEN ENTRY LOBBY PARTY AREA PLAY AREA SWIMMING POOL FITNESS CENTER WORKSPACE CHILDCARE LIBRARY RESTAURANT/ COMMON DINNING COMMON ROOM GUEST ROOM BUSINESS CENTER MART GARAGE SALE COOKING CLASS LANGUAGE CLASS FREEZER ROOM STORAGE MOVIE SCREENING GALLERY

COSMO HOUSE

DORM

HOTEL

HOME STAY

CO-LIVING CO-HOUSING

COSMO-HOUSE

Private Private (optional) Shared Shared (optional) Public Public (optional) N/A

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

ACTIVITY ANALYSIS It is very important to understand a projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s users and their activities. Previously we have learned that cosmo-house is designed for certain user groups who start living in a new city coming from other countries for a temporary period. The graphical presentations show different types of user groups. From top to bottom, couples, couples with kids, students, professionals, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, investors and temporary visitors of those users like parents and friends. The graphics show possible activities by certain user group with the intensity of use. For example, a couple may live in mostly studio or 1-bed apartments. They may not need a 2-bedroom apartment until they have kids. Those couple needs to visit frequently laundry, lobby, party area, swimming pool, fitness center, restaurant, mart, garage sale, clubs. Again, if it is a student, he or she may need other specific activities like a library, play area, workspaces, and others. The graphics also show different usage levels such as private spaces like individual units public spaces like common spaces, service spaces like parking & storage and open spaces like gardens & terraces. The thickness of those color demonstrates the intensity of those spaces used by a certain user group. The whole graphics is developed to establish the program for the project of cosmo-house. Understanding those different types of user groups and their necessity over the period helps to give a clear picture of what spaces should be provided. This program is not absolute in every cosmohouse. It should vary from scale, capacity and project cost of different cosmo-house. Cosmo-house may vary from context to context. One of the ideas of cosmo-house should be to provide those functions which are not available nearby. If there are some functions adequately available in the neighborhood, it is better not to provide the same functions inside the cosmo-house. Hence people who live in there are encouraged to explore their neighborhood. Besides, if there are few functions, for example, gallery or movie screening is open to people of the neighborhood, it can involve the people of that neighborhood to engage with the cosmo-house. In such way, the cosmo-house can be an integral part of the context. People who live there also have many experiences inside the house and within the context. So over the period, they live with diverse people, they enjoy much memory, they can call it home away from home.

COSMO HOUSE

ACTIVITY ANALYSIS STUDIO APT. 1-BED APT. 2-BED APT. TERRACE PARKING LAUNDRY GARDEN ENTRY LOBBY PARTY AREA PLAY AREA SWIMMING POOL FITNESS CENTER WORKSPACE CHILDCARE LIBRARY RESTAURANT/ COMMON DINNING COMMON ROOM GUEST ROOM COMPUTER LAB MART GARAGE SALE COOKING CLASS LANGUAGE CLASS FREEZER ROOM STORAGE MOVIE SCREENING GALLERY

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

STUDIO APT. 1-BED APT. 2-BED APT. 3-BED APT. APARTMENTS

COMMUNITY SPACE

COMMERCIAL/ RETAIL PARKING OPEN SPACE

GAMES SWIMMING POOL THEATER FITNESS CENTER LANGUAGE CLUB PARTY SPACE GALLERY LAUNDRY RETAILS RESTAURANT OFFICE SPACE RESIDENTIAL PARKING COMMERCIAL PARKING LOADING DOCK KIDS PLAY AREA COMMUNITY GARDEN COURTYARD

DETAIL PROGRAM

BASIC PROGRAM

COSMO HOUSE

3 2 1 -1

RESHUFFLED PROGRAM

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO HOUSE

CONCEPT + DESIGN

CONCEPT & DESIGN

The concept of the building is developed in a few phases. Initially, it started with a very basic way as a mixed-use building are designed. Residential units at the top with commercial spaces at the base. Within the huge site, a courtyard is needed to penetrate light and air inside the mass. Then pulling down the riverfront mass and pulling up the opposite sided mass can create a balanced form which can ensure more manhattan view units. At the ground level, public engagements through different functions can create the mass more connected to the riverside and an integral part of the neighborhood. Large common space or floor can distribute the residents in different level of the building. It can create more than one ground and roof in the mass. Lastly, many common spaces as per program can be distributed around the building so that residents can engage all over the building and can have an overall experience of living.

COSMO HOUSE

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

FUNCTION

HEIGHT GAIN & MANHATTAN VIEW

RESIDENTSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ENGAGEMENT

COURTYARD

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

MICRO GATHERING & FUTURE EXPANSION

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO HOUSE

29TH FLOO

R (ROOF)

PARTY SPACE

BIG LOUNGE

)

OOR H FL

OF (RO

19T

SMALL LOUNGE VERTICAL CIRCULATION LIBRARY WORKSPACE PARTY & MUSIC

COWORKING SPACE RACQUETBALL

GARDEN OOR H FL

GARDEN GARDEN CAFÉ

FITNESS

11T

SWIMMING POOL GENTS CORNER POTLUCK/PARTY BADMINTON

SPORTS SCREENING INDOOR GAMES POT LUCK KIDS PLAY AREA INDOOR GAMES GROUP EXERCISE KIDS PLAY AREA INDOOR GAMES GARDEN INDOOR GAMES LIBRARY

LADIES’ CORNER

2ND

LEARNING CLASS GROCERY STORE CAFÉ WORKSHOP/STUDIO KIDS PLAY AREA MARKETPLACE ART GALLERY

OR FLO

LAUNDROMAT CHILD CARE LOUNGE LEASING OFFICE MOVIE SHOW

SPACE ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

SPACE SYNTAX DIAGRAM

When studying buildings with complex arrangements, the examination of the plans can be important but sometimes difficult to understand. Among the variety of techniques that have been used to abstract elements of plans, space syntax gamma analysis stands out as a powerful tool for studying the way spaces are structured. By focusing attention on the links between spaces rather than space size and shape or the character of the separating elements or openings, gamma analysis provides a distinctive view of the organizational structure of a building. This space syntax diagram is kind of the script of how the spaces are designed in the cosmo-house. The vertical lines are vertical circulations which connect different floors. Horizontal lines are connections within different spaces within one level. Colors of the spaces demonstrate different category of those spaces. Later, space syntaxes are showed in specific ways to show the spaces and connections of a certain user group.

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

THE PROPOSAL

SITE PLAN NTS

COSMO HOUSE

.6 -#

&33 : 45

.$ $

"3 5&

3 )8 :

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE 1"4 4

"*$

3*7

$&/

5&3

.$ $"35&3 )8:

/&8 +& " 3 5 4 $ 34&: 1 &/5 & &3 3'03 .

$&/ 5

3"-

1" 3,

*/(

SITE PLAN The site is a corner plot surrounded by streets on 3 sides. The McCarter highway is the busiest among them. And the site is the corner lot of Center Street and Mulberry Street. Passaic river is to the east within walking distance. It has a light rail route parallel to lotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s south-east lot line. The cosmo-house has a gallery as a public program on the first floor. The entry to the gallery is just opposite to the NJPAC so visitors coming for NJPAC can also stop by its gallery. The gallery is designed to accommodate international artworks which signifies the project itself by displaying cosmo-arts for the residents and the visitors around the neighborhood and from distance. It has two other residents entries, one is to the north-east corner and other is from the Mulbery Street. Vehicular and service entry is from Mulberry Street to the rear of the lot. It has two basements to accommodate around 170 cars.

COSMO HOUSE

CEN

RRY

TER

LBE

1. MUSEUM 2.MECHANICAL ROOM 3.STORAGE

LEVEL 01 PLAN

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

LEVEL 2 PLAN Level 2 is designed as an uplifted ground which also acts as the roof of the base. The north-east corner is connected to the street for the public who are not even residents to connect with the cosmo-house. There are events which will bring neighborhood people to come to enter the building for the movie screening, or even for the marketplace where residents of cosmo-house can display their culinary, art and crafts skills or even sell & buy used products. In this way, residents who do not have an option to work outside, or even students or young couple who have just moved in can buy furniture from who are just going to move out. This is the physical marketplace like how craigslist works. In the center, there is the heart house, the courtyard. It is the place for kids to play, surrounded by common ammenities like library, mart, cafe, play area and so on. This is the place where diferent group of residents get the chance to meet a new neighbor. The more common places there are, the chance of interaction increase to create new experiences and to new memories.

LEVEL 5 PLAN Level 5 is the ground floor of a modular architecture which consists of 3 floors. 5th-8th and 9th-11th floor are a module which is described better in a detail section later. This courtyard centric living units are designed as the double-loaded corridor in some places where the corridor becomes single loaded at some places which gives the experience of a fluid street. Imagine a 10â&#x20AC;&#x2122; by 30â&#x20AC;&#x2122; volume which acts like an alley within the module where units are faced towards the alley. Some are studio apartments, some are 1-bedroom apartments when some are like row houses all facing towards the alley. There are few open spaces on every floor to accommodate common functions, with different height so those functions can be connected via different levels too. For example, level 5 has a pot luck area where residents from that floor or even other groups of people can use it as a party area or pot luck events. In a way, they can exchange different culinary experiences. Those 3 floors are connected within them and also every floor is connected to a stair system which can lead to the center courtyard at level 2.

COSMO HOUSE

12 5

11 15 6

7 13

1. GARDEN/ MOVIE SHOW 2. MARKET PLACE FOOD/ CRAFT/ YARD SALE 3. WORKSHOP/ STUDIO/ CLAY/ CRAFT/ COOKING 4. CAFE 5. GROCERY 6. LEARNING CLUB 7. TERRACE GARDEN 8. INDOOR GAMES 9. LIBRARY 10. MAINTENANCE 11. LAUNDROMAT 12. CHILD CARE 13. LOUNGE 14. LEASING OFFICE 15. KIDS PLAY AREA 16. STORAGE

9 11 10 LEVEL 02 PLAN

6 4

7 1. KIDS PLAY AREA 2. POT LUCK/ PARTY SPACE 3. TERRACE GARDEN 4. GUEST HOUSE 5. SPORTS LIVE STREAMING

LEVEL 05 PLAN

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

LEVEL 6 PLAN Level 6 is kind of 2nd floor of the 3-floors module which is connected by stairs to level 5. Most of the exterior side units are duplex which has the entry from level 6. This floor they have ladies area and the visual connection to the level 5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sports screening area. Apart from a few large common areas, this cosmo-house has many small common spaces which can create interaction between a couple of floors. This is kind of small alley scale while big spaces like the central courtyard or roofs are neighborhood scale.

LEVEL 7 PLAN Level 7 is the roof of the 3-floors module. Within the units, few units are left open for creating common spaces which also can bring light and controlled air inside the module, into the designed alley. In level 7, units are barely connected because most of them are 2nd floor of the duplex units which start from level 6.

COSMO HOUSE

LEVEL 06 PLAN

1. LADIES ROOM

LEVEL 07 PLAN 1. LOUNGE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

LEVEL 11 PLAN Level 11 is the intersection of buildings 3 masses. It is the roof of the perimeter block. There starts the slab block which is designed for the student residents and the tower block designed for the mostly professional people who may want little isolation from much interactions. But all the residents can another option to interact with people other than central courtyard here in level 11. There are swimming pool, play area for students, a cafe, racquetball court and a gymnasium. At the corner it has a garden for community gardenning and possible bar-b-q.

LEVEL13 PLAN This is a typical floor condition which explains both student block and tower block. Student block is mostly dorm-style units with two-bedrooms with shared living area. They have large scales common areas such as the library, workspaces and party space which connects different floors ensuring much physical and visual connectivity inside the building. The tower block has mostly typical units with courtyard facing balconies in half of the units. Both the towers get tapered upward to ensure more light inside the courtyard. The two masses facing each other have balconies in an algorithm which create elevations for the city scale.

COSMO HOUSE

6 4

10 3

1. CAFE 2.COMMUNITY GARDEN 3.CO-WORKING SPACE 4.RAQUETBALL 5.FITNESS 6.POOL 7.INDOOR GAMES

LEVEL 11 PLAN

2 1 1

LEVEL 13 PLAN 1. LIBRARY

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

SECTION DETAIL OF 3-FLOOR MODULE This section was conceived in this cosmo-house to inject the experience of street living. Many cultures have this idea of living connected to the street. the 10â&#x20AC;&#x2122; x 30â&#x20AC;&#x2122; volume creates the alley experience where units are entered through that alley. It has the empty units as like empty lot for common functions. It has a rooftop terrace which can also ensure light and controlled ventilation inside the alley. Living within one of the units in the sectional module will give the experience of more interaction and memory. The residents have common spaces from small scale to medium-scale to a large-scale.

BLOW UP SECTION

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

THE SECTION This section is the heart of this cosmo-house. It tells every detail stories. Parking in the basement is the basic service. Entry to the art gallery from the street and entry to level 2 to the marketplace via a ramp and stair ensure public engagement with the building. When neighboring people visit this cosmo-house quite frequently for purposes, it becomes a landmark for the neighborhood, it becomes the iconic architecture of the city of Newark. This section is the heart of this cosmo-house. It tells every detail stories. Parking in the basement is the basic service. Entry to the art gallery from the street and entry to level 2 to the marketplace via a ramp and stair ensure public engagement with the building. When neighboring people visit this cosmo-house quite frequently for purposes, it becomes a landmark for the neighborhood, it becomes the iconic architecture of the city of Newark. The form, sections, and layout of the cosmo-house were done in a complex way so it can serve many needs of cosmo people. Common spaces are there in a way that can be adapted based on the needs or demography of the building change. Residents may have the freedom to modify those spaces, may change color or add motifs from their interests and culture so that those spaces become more personal. The more residents involve with the place where they live, it gets more memorable, more experiential. The more people have memories of a place, the place becomes home to them.

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

EAST ELEVATION

SOUTH ELEVATION 48

COSMO HOUSE

ELEVATIONS

NORTH ELEVATION

SCALE 3/64”=1’-0”

NORTH ELEVATION

SCALE 3/64”=1’-0”

NORTH ELEVATION MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO HOUSE

EXPERIENCE

THE EXPERIENCE The experience of cosmo-house is shown through the story of 3 groups of residents. The students, single professional or couple and the family with kids. Next few pages those stories are shown from uni plan, the space syntax diagram and expected images of different common spaces while stories are created and memoeries are made. Students have different types of dwelling units to choose from based on necessity of individual student. They have common spaces like library, workspace and also party space for weekend fun. From their block they can go to level 11 where there are more large scale amenities like play area, pool, gymnasium and a lot. They can also explore other part of the cosmo-house as students are supposed to explore within a neighborhood. Students can jon karate or dance classes, they can go to the marketplace, the restaurant and the grocery.

COSMO HOUSE

The single professional or the couple can choose from different unit types from the tower where they have city view and manhattan view units.Manhattan view or courtyard facing units have balconies to visually connected within the courtyard and to the opposite side of the block upto certain level. They have small lounge spaces in every floor and few larger lounges in certain floors. They have a big party space on top floor which other residents can also use for large partys. Space syntax diagram shows their circulation path to different spaces they need to go. Couple with kids are expected to live in lower floors in perimeter block. Those 3-floor modules have small kids play area where kids can play. For larger group of kids there are center courtyard and rooftop garden. Center courtyard surrounded by many amenities which are needed for the residents. For example, small mart, restaurant, laundry, player room, even classroom for language training or important seminar on tax or immigration etc. Overall, the cosmo-house also provides couple of spaces which are open to the public. For example, a road side garden where movies are screened which is connected to the the marketplace for the residents.

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

STUDENT -SHARED LIVING -LIBRARY -WORKSPACE -MUSIC -PARTY _FITNESS -CAFE -GORCERY -BUDGET SHOPPING -YOGA/KARATE/DANCE -SPORTS

LEVEL 13

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

2 56

UNIT INTERIOR

HALLWAY & CONNECTED WITH LIBRARY & WORKSPACE COSMO HOUSE

SINGLE PROFESSIONA/ YOUNG COUPLE -QUIET LIVING -POTLUCK/PARTY -SPORTS -CAFE -SHOPPING -ART -FITNESS -GARDENNING -SOCIALIZING -WORKSPACE

LEVEL 13

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO HOUSE

UNIT INTERIOR

STREET LIKE CORRIDOR

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COUPLE WITH KID -KID FRIENDLY -DAY CARE -SHOPPING -MOVIE -ART -POTLUCK/PARTY -GARDENNING -CAFE -LEARNING NEW SKILLS -KIDS PLAY AREA

LEVEL 6+7

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

UNIT INTERIOR

POTLUCK/ PARTY SPACE

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COMMUNITY GARDEN

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

10 ROOF IS THE NEW GROUND

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COURTYARD IS THE HEART

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

ENGAGING NEIGHBOR: OPEN THEATER, COSMO-MARKETPLACE

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO HOUSE

INFERENCE

INFERENCE Architects should work on new problems and new solutions. Cosmo-House in one of the idea of soving a probelm which has not been addressed in that way. Those milions of new-nomad people who leave their home country to live in a complete new context. They leave their family, they leave their home and hence they leave their memomrarble lives and experience. We can see senior citizen housing for senior citizens, affordable housing for low income people; so in a way cosmo-house for cosmo-people. When there are user groups, there are needs for something; then rather making them adjusted to an existing situation, work towards a new situation to serve those needs, to serve those users. While designing an architecture, it is important to understand the user groups, their needs and their timeline around those needs. When the architect can have a good understanding of those matters, it becomes easier to find a good solution. Architecture should not be top-down, rather it should be bottom-up. It should grow from the root of the problem. Cosmo-house in Newark, NJ is the first idea of such house. It should respect the context of Newark, it might act as a landmark, even an iconic architecture of the city. But most importantly it should carry those ingredients of cosmo-house and it should also express its cosmopolitan nature to the neighborhood. The overall experience makes it a perfect cosmo-house

COSMO HOUSE

Cosmo-house is a universal idea of living. It varies from city to city, context to context. But it should have some certain features in it. It should have a place for interaction, spaces to accommodate certain needs of cosmo-people in certain countries. For a big city, it could be a house of 500 units. On the other side, it can be even a house of 50 units. But the core concept should be similar to other cosmo-house. Let’s think of it is a hotel of the same franchise. A regular visitor of a certain hotel brand should expect some standard of services throughout other hotels of that bran. Cosmo-house is similar. A resident of a cosmo-house should expect more or less similar possibilities of interaction and experiences while moving into another cosmo-house in another country. As an architect, I expect to see cosmo-house is another form of living as like hotel, dorm, Airbnb. One day neo-nomad will land in a new city and search ‘cosmo house near me’ to start a new life in a new home away from home.

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO HOUSE

APPENDICES + BIBLIOGRAPHY

PHYSICAL MODEL

COSMO HOUSE

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

World Atlas, The Most Cosmopolitan Cities In The World, 2018 https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-cosmopolitan-cities-in-the-world.html U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE, BUREAU of CONSULAR AFFAIRS, 2018 https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2018AnnualReport/FY18AnnualReport%20-%20TableXVIB.pdf CNN Library, US Visa Fast Facts, 2017 https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/23/us/us-visa-fast-facts/index.html Newark River, Public Access & Redevelopment Plan, April 2013 https://newarksriver.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/130807newarksriver.pdf Julia Williams Robinson, Complex Housing- Designing For Destiny New York and London: Routledge, 2018 Kathryn M. Mccamant and Charles Durrett, Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press 1994 Ilka Ruby and Andreas Ruby, MVRDV Buildings: Updated Edition nai010 Publishers, 2016

COSMO HOUSE

PHOTO SOURCES Cosmovision worldwide, NJPAC http://cosmovisionworldwide.com/19-years-more-than-10-million-patrons-over-1-5-million-children-2600-artists-plus-2-u-s-presidents-and-his-holiness-the-dalai -lama One Theater Square, Newark Penn Station, Millitary Park, Newark Museum, Manhattan view https://www.onetheatersquare.com/neighborhood Prudential Center https://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball/2014/03/can_the_prudential_center_land_the_big_ten_tournament.htm

Red Bulls Arena Stadium https://www.newyorkredbulls.com/events Newark Downtown https://www.nlc.org/sites/default/files/users/user75/LIFT-UP%20City%20Profile_Newark_122116.pdf

Surrounding developments https://www.nlc.org/sites/default/files/users/user75/LIFT-UP%20City%20Profile_Newark_122116.pdf https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=144668612 http://thenewarktimes.com/latest-newark-residential-development-bring-new-vibe-downtown/

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE

COSMO HOUSE

Diversified Living for Neo-Nomads

MOHAMMAD MAZHARUL HAQUE M.ARCH. THEISIS, 2019 VIRGINIA TECH