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I would like to thank all the people who have helped me in my thesis journey thus far. In particular, I would like to thank all my studio mates for their valuable advice, professor Sandy Stannard for always pushing my thesis forward, and last but not least, my groupmates who worked tirelessly with me on the bench.
This book is a culmination of all the research I have done over the entirety of fall quarter, and I think it is important to note that it is not the final version of my thesis, but is rather a reflection of all the work that has been done thus far. This means that a majority of the designing is yet to come and that a lot of the designing this quarter was done for the vellum competition.
My team consists of Nehansh Saxena, Bo Li, Mehul Sathyanarayan, and myself. We chose to make a bench for the architecture building that was a continuation of one of professor Stannard’s previous studios’ work that we are doing instead of participating in the Vellum competition.
We didn’t change anything.
Just kidding, we shot it on a DSLR
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Images rendered and generated by Midjourney AI
Due to rapid urbanization, between now and 2050, an additional 2.5 billion people are moving to cities.
Source: UN
As the world copes with an unprecedented global pandemic and confronts catastrophic climate change challenges, many people are reconsidering their consumption levels in relation to their needs.
The pandemic has also been a catalyst that has essentially upended the nature of “work” and has changed the nature of the “workplace” and people’s relationship to it.
now also must
the
role
People no longer have the same determination to work in person anymore, and several studies in the recent past have shown that this new approach improves productivity; leading us to believe that this new mindset is here to stay. This now means that an individual’s home now also must play the additional role of the workplace.
Our consumer habits are one of the primary factors driving climate change. In the residential sector, suburban developments can be partially to blame for this growing concern about the climate. It eats up an extraordinary amount of land and resources only to be useful to the few who can afford it.
Suburban sprawl thereby increases the need for cars –making the cost of living less affordable, and the need for freeways – which eat up a lot of real estate that could be
put to better use. An article by populationconnection.org, titled “Unsustainable Suburban Sprawl”, says that “Sprawl causes deforestation, land conversion from agriculture to asphalt (large parking lots), air and water pollution, and inefficient transportation infrastructure reliant upon single passenger vehicles and long commutes.” These commutes also increase the emissions per capita and have a significant impact on the environment.
We can pack more housing into existing urban conditions by reducing the space occupied by each unit and having more shared/common areas for purposes that would need more real estate.
It usually involves moveable smart furniture that was particularly designed for these types of units, that also sometimes double as partitions between different uses.
Micro living is a term used to describe flats that are, on average, 20 to 35 square meters (215 to 375 square ft.) in size. In most cases, micro living apartments are already furnished and equipped intelligently. [medium] It usually involves a lot of moveable furniture that double as separations between its different uses.
Many in the 21st century are accustomed to living paycheque to paycheque, with little to no savings. Some factors responsible include increasing living costs and, more recently, inflation. These factors have left some with no option but to commit to more than they can afford.
For some, the rising rent gets to the point where they pay the same amount for rent as they would for a mortgage payment. This is not a sustainable solution to this increasingly prevalent issue. If unforeseen circumstances affect said people’s income, one might fall into a vicious cycle of debt and loss.
This issue forces us to accept certain realities. Firstly, necessity and sufficiency are not the same. This goes hand in hand with the philosophy that one doesn’t necessarily need more to live well. That is to say, the quality of the space matters more than the physical real estate. This leads us to a possible solution: to redefine the experience of one of the most common typologies of housing – the apartment. This thesis proposes to explore ways to make everything more spatially efficient and use more vertical space for uses that would typically require more real estate, like storage.
This process of minimizing also has positive implications on environmental performance. When you live smaller and smarter, these consumption factors also start to drop because there isn’t a lot of space to store excess that may go to waste. It starts to psychologically incentivize the occupants to consume less and has a lesser load on the power grid because it doesn’t take as much energy to, for instance, thermally regulate the unit.
In 2009, U.S. consumers with an annual income of more than who account for
Of the total population, produced
Of total U.S. household carbon emissions (Source: Taiebat & Xu, 2019)
Community fabric refers to the relationship that all the residents have with each other. It is important to this typology because sharing all these resources and spaces would ideally mean that all the residents get to know each other well.
So, in addition to providing dignity to everyone through small personal units, this proposal will also focus on community programs to allow residents the opportunity to interact with one another. Some of the possible proposals to encourage this are community gardens, kitchens, classrooms, daycare centers, and other common spaces.
The map below shows the closest recycling center, public dump, and water reclamation plant to the site, which shows how far these resources have to travel to reach the site.
These maps show the closest convenience stores, farmers markets, cultural sites, and transit stops to the site.
Geothermal
Thermal energy in the Earth's crust
27.7% 15.8%
9.9% 2% 1%
9.9% 5%
Geothermal
13.9% 10.9%
15.8%
1%
Eligible Hydro
form of energy that harnesses the power of water in motion
Solar
13.9%
2% 1%
Thermal energy in the Earth's crust Geothermal
Eligible Hydro
13.9% 10.9%
form of energy that harnesses the power of water in motion
Solar
Radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed to generate electricity
Biomass & Biowaste
Biomass is plant-based material used as fuel to produce heat or electricity.
Wind
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity.
Coal
The heat produced by the combustion of the coal is used to produce electricity.
Large hydro projects are those larger than 30 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity.
Natural Gas
13.9% 10.9%
Radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed to generate electricity
Biomass & Biowaste
Biomass is plant-based material used as fuel to produce heat or electricity.
Wind
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity.
Coal
Thermal energy in the Earth's crust
Eligible Hydro
form of energy that harnesses the power of water in motion
Solar
Radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed to generate electricity
Biomass & Biowaste
Biomass is plant-based material used as fuel to produce heat or electricity.
Wind
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity.
Coal
The heat produced by the combustion of the coal is used to produce electricity.
Large Hydro
Large hydro projects are those larger than 30 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity.
Natural Gas
The heat produced by the combustion of the coal is used to produce electricity.
Large hydro projects are those larger than 30 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity.
Natural Gas
fossil energy source that formed deep beneath the earth's surface.
Nuclear
use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity
fossil energy source that formed deep beneath the earth's surface.
use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity
62%
The State Water Project supplies water throughout California. water from the state Water Project is sourced from the snowpack and Rain from the Sierra Nevada range, close to the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta then through the state water project aqueduct to supply water to Los Angeles County.
1% local surface water and recycled water the largest sources of surface water in the region are sourced from the Los Angeles River, San Gabriel River.
37% groundwater
These maps show how and where the gets its power from
The proposed site for this thesis is in downtown Los Angeles, by MacArthur Park, a largely immigrant neighborhood. The site is also located at an LA Metro stop. It’s also near other forms of public transport - such as bus stops.
Historically, factors like redlining and surrounding development trends led to disinvestment, displacement, overcrowding, and neglect. (curbed) There are a lot of underlying issues with this site. It currently has an unused office building and has four other old commercial buildings that haven’t been very well maintained.
There have already been efforts to tear these buildings down and turn it into a highrise apartment building. It even got approved by the Los Angeles City Council in 2018. But this proposal failed and got tossed out in 2020 because of a public outcry regarding the disproportionately low number of affordable units that were going to be in that building. Even the metro director Jaclyn Dupont-Walker admitted that moving ahead with this project would be “aiding and abetting”. (curbed) There were also rising public concerns about gentrification.
The map above shows nearby green spaces in the vicinity, the primary wind direction, and the sun path for the site.
Less than 5 mins 5-9 mins 10-14 mins 15-19 mins 20-24 mins 25-29 mins 30-34 mins 35-39 mins 40-44 mins 45-59 mins 60-89 mins 90 or more mins
238 776 2344 2549 2663 519 5421 305 1325 2715 3827 1937
0 2,000 4,000 6,000
Considering all the above statistics, the project aims to persuade the residents to explore alternate, greener forms of transportation by incentivizing the lack of cars using a reduction of parking spots.
The above collage explores more instances of interaction, taking your typical metro station as a precedent. The market is centered around the metro lines, and the apartments are over them in a more typical fashion found in urban landscapes
The above collage explores the possibilities of combining a food market with a metro station in an urban landscape - using a project by MVRDV in Rotterdam as a reference. It has apartments surrounding the market on the upper floors.
Project: 3 storey podium + 10 storeys of apartments
Project type: Mixed Use - Market + Metro + Apartments
Zone: C2-4
Max height/stories - unlimited
Max FAR - 3:1
Allowable density bonus: 35% with 20% low income units
Front Yard – Not required.
Side and Rear Yards – For a main building not more than two stores in height, there shall be a side yard on each side of said building of not less than five feet. For a building more than two stories in height, one foot shall be added to the width of such side yard for each additional story above the second story, but in no event shall a side yard of more than 16 feet in width be required.
This iteration of the design shows the maximum buildable area, with a podium level on the ground floor, which is both a metro station and a food hall, and ten floors of apartments on top of it that are all dispersed along the building.
Ground Floor = 0.925 of 3 (Max FAR)
Each unit block = 0.23 of 3
Total FAR Used = 2.995 of 3
Parking Required per unit = 1
Number of units per floor = 54
Number of floors = 10
Total units/Parking spots required = 540
Density bonus consession for parking asked = 50%
Due to placement of site within 1500 ft of a major transit stop, can replace upto 30% parking with bike racks
Required parking = 20% of 540 = 108
With all of the concessions being asked on parking, the goal is to reinforce the idea that micro living is about the sharing of resources - in this case, carpooling, or using public transportation.
The horse shoe shaped arch of Markthal consists of housing from the third to the eleventh floor, in total 102 rental apartments and 126 apartments for sale. Each apartment has an outside terrace over the full width of the unit and the 24 penthouses on the top floor have – thanks to the arch shape – a very wide roof terrace. The apartments can be accessed via 6 entrances at street level. The tenants of Markthal have signed a so called Green Lease Agreement regarding sustainable performance requirements.
A bath, floor-to-ceiling storage and space for exercise are included in the compact flat, located in Taipei City, where property prices are driving young buyers into smaller homes. Storage spans one entire wall of the living room, covering the 3.3 metres from floor to ceiling.
A Little Design described the client as a young woman who travels frequently for work, and when she gets home “all she needs is a hot bath and a good sleep”.
This project was made by outfitting the ceiling with industrial tracks, often used to support the rolling bookshelves at libraries, and fabricated a series of storage units that double as walls.
Architect: PKMN
Location: Madrid Year: 2014
Use: Micro living apartment
“Rooms” are created by rolling these storage units into a variety of configurations and turn her space into a dressing room, sitting area, boudoir, or kitchen depending on the need. Sliding panels give her the ability to create a sense of privacy or to hide a sink full of dishes.
Los Angeles has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers, and mild-to-warm winters, with increased precipitation. Precipitation annually in Los Angeles is lower than in many typical Mediterranean climates, giving it semi-arid characteristics. [Source: NOAA]
Will probably become more relevant in the future, according to current trends:
Natural Ventillation
Sun Shading of windows
Heat Gain from lights, people, and equipment greatly reduces heating loads on the system.
Heat Gain from lights, people, and equipment greatly reduces heating loads on the system.
Passive solar heating with south facing glazing to maximize winter sun exposure.
Shading to prevent overheating, and open to summer breezes and use passive solar heat gain in the winter.
Doble pane high performance low-e glazing on the west, north, and east facades, but clear glazing on the south for maximum passive solar gain
Traditional passive homes in temperate climates used lightweight construction with slab on grade, operable walls and shaded outdoor spaces
This is a team project by a group consisting of Bo Li, Mehul Sathyanarayan, Nehansh Saxena and myself. We as a group decided to do this instead of Vellum - the design competition.
This is a group project that was taken over from a previous studio. It rests on the existing concrete wall of the CAED architecture building and uses the wall to structurally support itself.
It is built using 2x2 steel angle pieces that were cut to make two different kinds of modules upon which rest the wooden sleepers and decking. It is designed to not require any welding, and just uses nuts and bolts to keep it together.
A few of the strategies used in this design are the use of vertical space, the dual purpose of the storage shelves that double as stairs, and having a lofted bed space.
Once again, the primary goal this design aims to establish is to give its residents dignity - by giving them a place to call home when they cannot afford much. This design, I think, does that because it gives them a little kitchenette and bathroom of their own, and even a little balcony to escape the confines of the room.
This project is going to be targeted towards the low-income population – starting professionals, daily wage workers, and people who cannot afford the rising Los Angeles rental market in general.
Impact, N. (no date) Consequences of overproduction and overconsumption, Consequences of Overproduction and Overconsumption | Net Impact. Available at: https://netimpact.org/blog/ overproduction-overconsumption-consequences (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
Residential buildings factsheet (no date) Center for Sustainable Systems. Available at: https:// css.umich.edu/publications/factsheets/built-environment/residential-buildings-factsheet#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%20residential%20sector,of%20U.S.%20total%20electricity%20 sales.&text=In%202021%2C%20the%20U.S.%20residential,of%20U.S.%20primary%20energy%20consumption (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
California, S.of (no date) Estimated solid waste generation rates, Cal Recycle. Available at: https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/wastecharacterization/general/rates (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
Yoh, C. (2022) What is coliving? common’s complete guide to Coliving in 2022, The Coliving Blog by Common | Resources for Shared Living. Available at: https://www.common.com/ blog/2019/05/what-is-coliving/ (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
Best room & home rentals experience (no date) Bungalow. Available at: https://bungalow.com/ articles/what-is-coliving-everything-you-need-to-know-about-this-popular-housing-type (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
90057 zip code income, population and Demographics (no date) Name Census. Available at: https://namecensus.com/demographics/california/90057/ (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
Taiebat, M. and Xu, M. (2019) 5 charts show how your household drives up global greenhouse gas emissions, PBS. Public Broadcasting Service. Available at: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/ science/5-charts-show-how-your-household-drives-up-global-greenhouse-gas-emissions (Accessed: December 9, 2022).
Barragan, B. (2020) Metro tosses out development proposal, calls for more affordable housing in Westlake, Curbed LA. Curbed LA. Available at: https://la.curbed.com/2020/2/19/21143915/ westlake-macarthur-park-subway-station-metro-walter-jayasinghe (Accessed: December 10, 2022).
Housing insecurity by race and place during the pandemic (2021) Center for Economic and Policy Research. Available at: https://cepr.net/report/housing-insecurity-by-race-and-place-duringthe-pandemic/ (Accessed: December 10, 2022).
