In changing living dynamics
With a varied array of numbers of inhabitants per household, family structures in constant flux, and remote jobs becoming increasingly popular, home has become a place of contested social structures.
In Shanghai-Suzhou, the use of households is particularly varied: types such as the clustered towers and lilongs present a heterogeneous mix of multigenerational and co-living forms. A three bedroom apartment can host a family with children and grandparents that take care of them during the day. A lilong home can host storefronts that become restaurants during the day and private dining rooms at night. In China sublease is allowed, thus the atomization of the apartment into rentable rooms allows for students and temporary workers to live amongst other types of residents.
All these examples challenge the monofunctional and socially standardized approach to housing programming. How could new designs host and promote these and future ways of living?
Design Operations
Join
Making kitchens and bathrooms collective is a direct response to the need for new forms of socialization beyond the family unit. These joint interactions facilitate common activities amongst particular age groups and foster multigenerational living models.
Project Descriptions
31- Associations/ “Functional Fields” – London
The joined floor plans of the four towers become one continuous field of functional pods with undefined communal space in between.
The radical fragmentation of the flats allow various living arrangements, associations to be created for any form of lifestyle and tenancy length.
Original Project: Neo Bankside by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, London.
32- Exposure/ “Bath House Cite” – Santiago
The back alleys between the inner and street front rows are transformed into a communal bathroom, while the central alley becomes an internal semi public path above a bath house.
The sectional organisation of bathing activities creates datums which allow calibration of the exposure of private, communal and public bathing routines.
Original Project: Conjunto Picarte by NN Architects, Santiago.
33- Routines/ “Andalucia Kitchen” – Santiago
The original landings, terraces and galleries of the compound are transformed into shared kitchen and dining facilities.
The spatial variety allows the exploration of different eating and cooking habits as part of various daily routines and social scenarios. The datums and positioning of furniture becomes the key architectural component.
Original Project: Comunidad Andalucia by Fernando Castillo Velasco, Santiago