Wearable, Workable, Livable ©
Faculty: Hansy Better
Course Timeline: Fall 2003 (09/10/03-12/05/03)
Number of Credit Hours: 6.0
Brief explanation of where the studio falls within the curriculum sequence: Students begin with three core studios in architectural design at RISD. The core curriculum is open to both undergraduate and graduate levels. The first year, students take a foundation study exploring multi-disciplinary arts, during the second year, students begin the two semesters of core design studios. The following year, students are obligated to take a housing option core studio where they select an instructor to work with. This studio is part of the housing option core curriculum
Pre-requisites to the studio: ARCH 2102 04: Architectural Design
Approximate Number of Students: 12-15
Pedagogic Framework
Studio meets twice a week totaling 12 hours per week. We will have two field trips. We will visit Habitat for Humanity in Providence, The MIT Baker Dormitory by Alvar Aalto and Steven Holl’s MIT Housing dormitory in Boston. We will have two visitors discussing their work: Margarita Blanco from Grupo Parasol and Meg Kiely, Deputy Director of Community Development and Housing in Boston. The students will design housing on three different sites, three different scales, and on three different socio-economic structures. The first assignment is two weeks. The second and third assignment will be for the duration of five weeks.
Project Overview
The body will be the first site of investigation. With economy of means, students will design and fabricate wearable, portable devices that shelters, protects, and measures the defensible space within a specific social group. With the donation of materials from Home Depot, the students will design low cost portable units that house the essential needs and objects of the inhabitant. This may include items such as food storage, communication systems, security systems, hygienic systems, etc & that will aid the homeless or even the modern working traveler. Students will be restricted to materials given by the donor. The students will choose from a range of urban sites identified and pre-selected by Habitat for Humanity to test their transportable dwelling unit.
The second half of the studio examines the relationship of architecture, housing and the city. In respect to the changing modes of inhabitation, the studio will design temporary residencies on a piece of residual land in Boston, MA for the high number of international young nomads, scholars, artists and researchers that Boston attracts.
Core Objectives
- Academia is a place to research low cost housing accessible to all economic levels.
- Academia and Corporations can collaboratively commit to social change that benefits the communities in which they serve.
- The architectural problem is to investigate cost-effective design housing solutions that range from creating the essential shelter for the homeless to a dynamic housing condition of the urban traveler.
Clients and/or user consultants involved
The Home Depot Store Manager: Mike Raposa. Mike will discuss the impact on the building industry and the social commitment Home Depot has had on the community. Casa Parasol Representative: Margarita Blanco who is in the process of fabricating mass produced prefabricated units all over the United States to reduce the poverty levels among Native Americans. EDC Representative: Meg Kiely, Deputy Director of Community Development and Housing in Boston to discuss the need for elderly, artists and low income housing.
Approach to the Proposed Studio Process and Content
The first assignment will be a short two-week exploratory and research assignment. The students in groups of two will first research case studies of living organisms. They will research how living organisms obtain food, create their own shelter, adapt, maintain and survive their own environment. Following the research, they will than build a wearable artificial habitat for shelter through a process of a) building by addition b) building by subtraction or c) building underwater. The general program shall be as follows: a) Design a wearable shelter to protect from cold, rain, snow, and heat. b) Identify collectibles and provide storage. c) Portable and extendable instrument to aid sight, sound, smell or measure the body and personal space. Students will be introduced to digital animation software such as Autodesk Viz to animate and demonstrate how one would interact with the wearable shelter. Construction drawings, fabrication and animations will be required. I am proposing with the donation of Home Depot building materials, students fabricate a 1) wearable shelter and 2) modular portable dwelling prototype, as the second assignment.
For second assignment, students will design and fabricate a prototypical housing modular that can expand from the single unit to a duplex unit. The objective of this assignment is to create a portable unit that is materially innovative, cost effective, flexible, and efficient for the traveler to work and live. This assignment will take a period of five weeks. Two groups of six students will construct a modular between 64 sqft. to 144 sqft. Detail drawings, elevations, plans, sections at ½inch=1foot, including all furniture to be rendered. Sketches, 3D renderings, detail models, reflected ceiling plan, collages and photography to be additionally included. Assembly/installation drawings explaining the kits of parts should be rendered in axonometric or flat diagrams. Drawings should include: Plans, Sections, Reflected Ceiling Plans, and relevant details for the construction of the project. The program requirements shall be as follows: A) Bed @6' -6" x2' -6" B) Chair C) Desk D) One toilet and tub. E) Maximize storage for clothing, electronic devices such as television, clocks, fans, computer. Performance criteria shall also be considered: A) Sound barriers. B) Safety and Security of the residents. C) Airflow throughout the space. D) Durable fire protection and structural material. E) Pre-wired data and power walls.
In the second half of the semester, students will apply their knowledge of defensible space, technological and cost effective materials in the design of high-density, temporary residencies in the Boston area. The final project involves designing on a piece of residual land where student will be challenged by the conditions of the site and number of living spaces the complex must accommodate. As the design and planning for temporary residencies is inherently speculative, students will have to accommodate 68 living units and appropriate amenities. The students shall determine the combination of amenities on the site. The number of occupants, the various dwelling configurations, and percentage of on-site parking will be left for the students to determine based on their thesis. The total time spent on this phase is five weeks. The students will first start by designing intersections. Programming for the various intersections is to be considered in terms of its accessibility to a larger public sphere. Public program may include but not limited to: Small multipurpose rooms from 150-500 sf for diverse functions, administrative offices, work/live space, galleries, laundry, mailroom, resident storage, garbage/recycling room, lounge, café/snack bars, 6 commercial spaces from 600-1600sqft, restrooms, entry halls, indoor/outdoor place, terraces, rooftops, car access, loading, bike storage. If the students feel they need to add additional program, which will help support their thesis, they may choose to do so. The students will produce models at three different scales: 1/2" = 1' -0" sectional intersection model, 1/8" = 1' -0" housing massing model, and 1/32" = 1' - 0" site context model. Drawings and computer renderings will follow.
The student’s work in collaboration with Home Depot and Adaptive Environment will be discussed in the spring symposium titled Social x CHANGE. Social x CHANGE is a symposium I initiated and in the process of establishing at the Rhode Island School of Design. Social x CHANGE will be the theme of Rhode Island School of Design newly established Architects Committed to Social Change Bi-Annual Symposium to be held from March 12-14, 2004 in Providence, RI. Social x CHANGE is a multidisciplinary symposium bringing forth discourse on sexuality, ethnicity, race, and gender relative to architecture and the landscape environment.
Social discourse, whether in the profession or in academia, tends to emphasize aesthetics, 'technological progress' and 'personal freedom'. This has produced both a regression and certain advances in contemporary cultural experiences, urban development and technological changes. The Symposium, Social xCHANGE will explore the historical and contemporary arguments on aesthetics as it relates to identity, technology, and migration.
The aim of this conference is to critique architectural representation of social life, and offer a public exchange through presentations and reflective theoretical discussions for a social visionary future. The symposium is open and free to the public.
The Social Justice Award will give additional significance to the proposal and financially support the material research of the studio. The Social Justice Award will cover cost for publication and traveling cost for special invited critics specializing in the low-cost housing field. The reviews will be open to the community and to a diverse faculty body. As a Hispanic-American instructor, I have been at RISD for a year now and I have made great efforts in continuing to invite ethnic minorities, women, and gay/lesbian jurors to participate on our reviews. I feel that it is extremely important to have access to other underrepresented academics and support one another in the architectural field.
The collaborations between Home Deport, Adaptive Environments, Habitat for Humanity and the Architecture Department at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) would be advantageous to the Providence community this fall. I will invite staff members from Habitat for Humanity, Home Depot and Adaptive Environments to participate on our informal and formal pin-ups for students and staff to exchange ideas and resources.
Responses to Reviewer’s Questions
- Please assure that within the target populations the subgroups are
identified and considered. These include: children, elderly people, people
with disabilities of all ages, socially disadvantaged people.
The first assignment will specifically address the homeless population of providence as a diverse group into itself. The research component will address the population of children, elderly people, veterans, mentally disabled, and the socially disadvantaged people through various texts, visits to shelters and personal interviews. The housing exploration will also address the spatial preconceptions associated with religion, cultural, racial and sexual associations. As the scale and scope increases with each phase of the studio, students will research the various user groups and the diversity within the interest group will be a subject to respond to.
- Assure that individuals are involved and not just the experts who
represent them. Clarify how actual users and others will be involved in
the both the problem identification and solution process.
After having numerous discussions with Habitat for Humanity in Providence, I have found that the disenfranchised are never given the chance to perform as traditional “client” in the design of a revolutionary shelter. The objective is one of a dialogue, an exchange of information, with existing non-profit organizations. This is extremely important for the community, as it rejects the academic ‘distance’ of research and abstraction of social contribution.
The studio allows for the students to listen carefully and address the needs of their “clients” in all of the assignments. The students will prepare questionnaires for interviews as well as conduct site visits to homeless shelters and community non-profit organizations to understand the needs of sheltering the transient community. The students will also have external guiding constituencies, such as the assistance of Habitat for Humanity in Providence, Margarita Blanco from Casa Parasol and Meg Kiely, Deputy Director of Community Development and Housing in Boston to answer questions and to explain and identify participatory processes with housing delivery systems.
The students will also design low cost portable units that house the essential needs and objects of the inhabitant. With the Social Justice Award, I have the opportunity to invite Ms. Blanco, a leading International Architect, to give a series of lectures on “Grupo Parasol: Mass Produced Prefabricated Housing Units” to supplement the course and expose students to a real world application for the ideas we will be exploring. Ms. Blanco will expose students to her new design ideas that engage energy efficient, mobile, prefabricated house typologies as an alternative to the problems of suburban sprawl. This presentation will be followed up with a working seminar so that students can have more specific conversations about the issues at hand.
- The evaluation of student work needs more detail. Please clarify
the methods and approaches of the evaluations, in addition to the critiques
at the Social xCHANGE Symposium.
Regarding the review process, there will be informal and formals methods to approaching the design evaluation. As students develop their work, I will informally work with them on a bi-weekly basis to guide their research and proposals. Milestones and deadlines will be set to insure incremental production and conceptual progress. At these points of evaluation, I propose a collaborative method of evaluation, where there will be invited academics, professionals, specialists, and a general invitation to the public to review the work and make suggestions. Students will be evaluated on how they can define, qualify, criticize, and propose alternative models for the problem of housing as I have proposed.
I am now developing the details for the Social xChange symposium and Reviewer 3 has proposed an excellent collaboration between the students and community. A workshop will be devoted to students moderating and discussing social initiated studios. Our studio will be the leading pioneer and I would welcome students and faculty from other studios that have also received the social justice award to share their experience in this public forum. In addition to the symposium, the studio is scheduled to exhibit and present their work at the Rhode Island School of Design Architecture Gallery where they will have the opportunity to expose and discuss the work with a larger general public, other students, the various invited lecturers and faculty.
For more information, contact Hansy Better at hbetter@risd.edu
Citation: Better, Hansy (2003). Wearable, Workable, Livable ©. Retrieved (enter date), from Universal Design Education Online web site: http://www.udeducation.org/teach/ASJ/better.asp
