As urban centers grow, new pressures are being applied to the social and demographic fabric of cities. Housing development tends to cater to market trends and is driven by economic demands that have and will continue to exclude. As a result, housing that is affordable tends to be built on low cost land at the periphery and is marginalized from opportunities that cities provide. This demographic segregation based on public policy and real estate markets are what render our cities as homogenous spaces, devoid of social diversity. The one size fits all nuclear family, which dominated housing design of the 20th century, is disappearing. This paradigmatic shift has asked us as architects to begin to envision housing for post-familial needs. However, within this flurry of excitement to provide new ideas for collective living, we are still slow to respond to the basic need of shelter for those suffering from homelessness, disabilities, mental-illness and addiction.
In response to the need a more inclusive housing strategy, this studio will explore the development of alternative forms of housing in our cities for marginalized communities. We will concern ourselves with the design of shelter that is adaptable to the flexible and intertwined network of familial relationships, challenged economics and culture aspirations of all of our urban residents. We will question the quotidian notions of what constitutes domestic space which often reveal tight allotments of square footage and compartmentalization of spaces with inherent naming conventions that imply single use, inflexible scenarios of inhabitation. Through design and architecture, we will respond to the seemingly simple statement that we all need shelter, but what is it?
