RESEARCH IDEA
The potential for creating an ‘architecture of care’ is not often applied to existing housing conditions, where such experiences can often be lacking. As such, in this research project I interrogate if this concept could be applied outside of housing co-operatives and co-housing communities, and how ‘care’ might be achieved through architectural intervention.
The research idea proposes that, through introduction of an occupied edge to the landscape surrounding the block in question, a new landscape of care is formed in the central courtyard space. In this new structure, each apartment gains extra living space – located in either the edge structure or the central space; catering to the need for adaptable, non-prescribed space |
Final Output The following drawings constitute the final output in terms of the design proposal. This includes plans, sections, and detail drawings, making use of colour, routes of movement, occupation, and annotation to demonstrate aspects of the research in the drawings.
The rest of this page will explore the methods that allowed these designs to come to fruition. This system involved the creation of Matrices of Care, in which a variety of care requirements were noted and carefully tabulated. These matrices formed the basis for a large proportion of this research. |
|
PRECEDENT STUDIES
R50 baugruppenResearch into co-housing design in schemes such as the R50 baugruppen was useful in the beginnings of this scheme in terms of exploring communal balconies and shared spaces.
R50 baugruppen
|
Lacaton et VassalThis was followed by an investigation of Lacaton et Vassal’s extension of 530 social housing units in Marseille. While the introduction of generous winter gardens, or wrap-around balconies suited the context of the blocks in question, the Berolina site – being smaller in scale and availing of a generous landscape - called for a different approach.
Lacaton et Vassal
|
Hopkins HouseConsequently, focus shifted to high-tech architecture, such as the Hopkins House, which made use of slender steel components to form a structurally light architecture. The section of this project had a significant impact on the technical build-up of my design proposal, forming a ‘soft’ architecture that could respond to different types of use.
Hopkins House
|
Matrices of Care
Schedules of CareTo fully understand the wide variety of care requirements and the different permutations of domestic care labour entailed in this range, I first set out 'Schedules of Care'.
These schedules explore daily routines through the lens of four different types of care:
This schedule was expanded on to include the specifics of certain acts of care that might require further elaboration. As well as this, caring for garden and building were both added to the schedule based on my own experience tending to an allotment, and on reading of Jane Casson's 2018 thesis exploring links between caring for people and for buildings in the context of the Camphill movement. |
|
Matrix of CareTo bring the information gathered in the Schedules of Care together, it was distilled into sixteen occupant profiles. These units were each afforded different configurations and varied care requirements, to best capture the diversity of modern communities.
Once again, however, these profiles were based on my own experiences of care - through my own eyes, and those of my friends, family, and neighbours. Therefore they are limited in scope and may contain unintentional bias, as I cannot accurately represent the diverse reality that is life in the 20th century, having only experienced a small part of it. The unit profiles were colour-coded for ease of reference in the architectural drawings, and as means of animating the final output. This effort was furthered by demonstrating occupation, routes, and conversation - through use of furniture, arrows, speech bubbles, and so on. |
|
Matrix of Communal Care
The 'Matrix of Communal Care' forms the last component to the 'Matrices of Care'. This assesses the overlapping care needs of each occupant by looking at every possible overlap between units. This revealed common care requirements - childcare, outdoor space for pets, study rooms, etc. - across all sixteen units, which could be addressed through the provision of communal facilities. All eleven of these areas were taken into consideration when allocating space for individual and shared use in the final design proposal.
Process Drawings
The following marker drawings show occupied sections and movement diagrams in plan. These demonstrate how the Matrices of Care came to bear on the final design proposal, by considering the specific requirements of each living unit, and how that might translate into the determined use of the new spaces.
This process also takes into consideration the process of travelling from one space to another, what toll this might take on a resident, and how it might impact their use of their new unit - in terms of both function and frequency. As such, these findings impacted not only the location of these new spaces but the routes between existing block and proposed structures.
This process also takes into consideration the process of travelling from one space to another, what toll this might take on a resident, and how it might impact their use of their new unit - in terms of both function and frequency. As such, these findings impacted not only the location of these new spaces but the routes between existing block and proposed structures.
Occupant 'Game'
To ascertain how the Matrices of Care could be brought into the architectural design process, I explored a methodology to replicate the sort of negotiations that might occur in real-world scenarios of this nature. This resulted in the formation of the Occupant Game, whereby each unit was represented by a coloured paper tile - originating from the original Matrix of Care. These tiles were applied to the proposal's structural grid, with each occupant unit assigned an apartment in the original building. The purpose of the game was to determine - based on the study of each unit's specific care requirements - where in the new structural grid each resident's new space might be placed.
This process required an understanding of the spatial implications of care and domestic care labour, looking back to the work done on movement diagrams earlier in the research. The result of this work was a design proposal that responds directly to the needs of the residents present at the design stage, but with a barebones construction that allows for future negotiations between residents. In essence, this proposal determines the need for a 'soft architecture' to respond to a brief that is complicated in its enquiry into the variety of care requirements to be found in the domestic realm. |
The Occupant Game was directly inspired by the work of LiD Architecture in their research project ‘Nimble Spaces’. Their 'Enabling Space Game' was used as a means of exploring collaborative design and understanding the implications of space and its uses through the design process.
|
Occupant ProfilesSixteen occupant units were created to inhabit the existing block and then the new proposal. Each profile was set up to represent different family or occupant typologies, each with their own daily routines and care requirements. This was done such that the research might demonstrate a variety of different conditions, indicating the variety to be found in everyday life.
These profiles were used to determine a wide range of specific care requirements, and these were applied to the site to see how both the existing context and the new spaces created might be used and occupied by residents. |
|
|
A Day in the LifeTo explore how this proposal might impact the lives of residents and introduce an Architecture of Care through increased proximity and visibility, I followed the day of one resident from the Matrices of Care from morning to night. This, of course, is only one example of how a day might pass for this resident in this context.
This by no means intends to dictate how the new proposal might come to be used, but instead strives to show what a soft, adaptable architecture such as this might achieve through the lens of care - a multifaceted solution to a complex socio-political issue. |