PROJECT Communal Singularity
LOCATION Tivoly Avenue, Baltimore City, Maryland, United States
PROJECT COMPLETION DATE 12/4/2015
PROJECT CATEGORY Undergraduate / Upper Level Design
PROJECT TYPE Studio
ENTRANT Fereshteh Oreizi-Esfahani
TEAM MEMBERS
SCHOOL Morgan State University
FACULTY SPONSOR Pavlina Ilieva, Program Director|Lecturer / Undergraduate Architecture and Environmental Design
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
For many years, the most efficient and convenient type of housing in Baltimore has been rowhomes and apartments. Even though this style is suitable in many situations, it also presents some disadvantages and drawbacks. When presented this project, the goal was to create an urban hybrid housing that filtered the positive characteristics of rowhomes/apartments and combined them with the desirable attributes of other housing types. The design aimed to incorporate specific features that were more suitable to the urban environment. The suggested design solution for site 2 located on Tivoly avenue aggregated the singular units to create a refined and fitting complex within the site. It incorporated all the wanted characteristics stated before while incorporating features desirable to the site. By taking a singular unit and creating a more communal environment, this project allows for users to participate in an urban village experience.
STUDENT'S STATEMENT
Since the 18th century, row houses and apartments have characterized the most efficient and convenient type of housing in Baltimore. Currently apartments, traditionally favored in multifamily housing, and row houses, an affordable alternative to single-family housing, comprise the majority of housing options in the city. This poses potential disadvantages with respect to the diversity of communal experiences as each type predicates fixed levels of social interaction. Communal Singularity examines urban hybrid housing that filters the positive characteristics of row houses and apartments and combines them with the desirable attributes of other housing types. This study examines the generation of spatial strategies that contribute to a functional neighborhood, one that respects boundaries, movement, and differences while providing a balanced life-time community.
The process involves studying the row house from inside out by focusing on how living spaces correlate with each other. The user’s interaction with their indoor living areas is thoroughly analyzed. Changing the effort to apartments, where the planning concentrates on the main circulation of the various units, allows for the examination of another vital aspect of the project, movement. Beneficial attributes of these two housing categories are studied and tested in the proposal of a new hybrid urban housing type.
Tivoly Avenue, a street in a blighted Northeast Baltimore community, currently stands vacant as the ninety-eight town homes that occupied the avenue have been demolished in efforts to trigger urban renewal. This hypothetical study aggregates singular housing units in ways that create distinct outdoor spaces for various degrees of private and public interaction. The L-shaped divisions provide vertical circulation to all levels from the ground floor maintaining a sense of privacy and ownership. By taking a singular unit and creating a more communal environment, this housing type allows for users to participate in an urban village experience.
IMAGE CAPTIONS & CREDITS
IMAGE 1: Street Perspective,Communal Singularity, Fereshteh Oreizi
IMAGE 2: Section Perspective ,Communal Singularity, Fereshteh Oreizi
IMAGE 3: Alley Perspective, Communal Singularity, Fereshteh Oreizi
IMAGE 4: Model-Street View, Communal Singularity, Fereshteh Oreizi
IMAGE 5: Street View Aerial, Communal Singularity, Fereshteh Oreizi
IMAGE 6: Aerial, Communal Singularity, Fereshteh Oreizi
IMAGE 7:
MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Communal Singularity
Category
AIA Maryland Student Design Awards > Undergraduate > Undergraduate / Upper Level Design
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