Social Condenser

Social Housing / Residential

“Sharing accommodation is perhaps the most obvious solution to housing affordability issues, but can be fraught with problems.”

- Neeraj Bhatia and Antje Steinmuller

An increased migration to cities in recent decades has brought greater division between those who can afford property and those who are living in precarious conditions. Many urban dwelllers are provided with affordable housings who are in need, but space is limited for offering descent quality of lifestyle to its residents. Addition to that, individualism appears to have increased over the past several decades which would find it more challenging to interact when groups of individuals are met one another.

We imagined post-familial period where most individuals share domestic space, creating a new sense of family. This project consists 150 bedrooms and shared programs with central courtyard. By using 12’ x 12’ grid, plans were generated depending on the occupants: elders, parents, and children. Focusing on their essential needs in privacy, different geometric shapes in plan were generated. Then they are combined into units, centralizing most active areas where circulations overlap the most. The purpose of this project is to induce social engagement by controling the density within the grid. Spaces that enforce human contact and interaction serve to preserve bonds between individuals as well as close contact needed for shared programs. Visual and physical connectivity occurs as one goes in and out of the building. Different scales of communal areas are given to accommodate varieites of social activites, but also prevent from being overpopulated which could be stressful. By minimizing its total footprint, the project encloses around the perimeter and offers its own central courtyard, attracting occupants to be outside.

Plan Generator

Children

Parents

Elders

Centralized Division

Gradient Transition

Radical Movement

Unit A

Unit B

Unit C

Depending on the user, space is generated for its essential needs and inducing social interaction. With generated plans, they are combined into forming 3 types of units, centralizing on movement & engagement while ensuring privacy.

Aggregation: Components to Clusters

Stacking

Due to their distinctive shapes, providing occupants’ essential need such as terrace was intricate. Through reiterative process, the best outcome was selected and modified into a cluster.

Visual & Physical Engagement

This cluster is focused on providing outdoor terrace along with communal areas for interaction. By placing large atrium in the center, inhabitants become united in shared spaces, encountering at core.