Making Space Your Own

Being that we are designing a residential commune during this semester of studio, this weeks lectures and reading had many connections and challenged how I am currently designing our residential program. One pattern that I saw in the precedents shown in the lecture was the diverse layouts in floor plan for the rooms; each one was unique. In some projects, this idea is successful and in others it is more messy and is confusing to follow. How can we incorporate these individualistic design strategies into a space that needs order for our user group and for cost? One way our project can start to apply this is through our garden spaces. The specific residential rooms are copied for the sake of stacking and the consideration of plumbing design, but the green spaces are scattered throughout the structure at different scales for different programs. The goal of having this diversity in more communal spaces was to get users out of their more basic rooms, and into these unique community rooms.

LOD Community center uses different height roofs to generate different activities. Some of these spaces were programed while others were open for interpretation. This allows the interior space to have a variety of heights for different uses and the rooftop to host several activities.

The project from SANAA gave a variety of forms and spaces, while leaving the in between outdoor spaces open for users to make their own. As designers of others homes, we need to be considerate of how our designs aren’t forcing use, but giving the user group options to make the space their own.