Infill

The 'act of infilling' is a phenomenon based on reactions from evolving societies. Pushes from government policies "on the reuse of urban land in preference to building on previously undeveloped land on urban fringes."

"Other factors include international obligations to reduce carbon emissions which have impacted on the materials and technologies used to build new houses, as well as on location and lifestyle preferences; shrinking household sizes and ageing populations mean there is greater demand for single unit accommodation in and around city centres. Another pressure is that growing numbers of us are gravitating towards city centres, lured by work opportunities and access to amenities and entertainment." pg. 1

Town House
- Krischpartner

Urban Infill 01 and 02

- Johnsen Schmaling Architects

"The revival of deprived areas and increased urban density are two of the many positive knock-on effects of infill housing. In many cases, empty site and derelict buildings are found in less salubrious areas; perhaps places with lower socio-economic demographics, high unemployment or a reputation for crime." pg. 13

Mornement, Adam and Annabel Biles. 2009. Infill: New Houses for Urban Sites. London, UK: Laurence King Publishing Ltd.

BUILT OBJECT

interchangeable horizontal surface. vertical surface used for protection - walls, fences, etc. and horizontal surfaces for practical uses - sitting, dining, sleeping, cooking etc. during social uses these surfaces act as the spatial boundaries.






how to introduce the element of sound? does sound becomes the way to tell what the flat surface is representing instead of the normal visual? how does materiality play a role?

A History of Domestic Space: Privacy and the Canadian Home

Small houses (one or two room) used to be a typical rural and urban home in the eighteenth century and onwards. Throughout the nineteenth century, small urban houses "came to be regarded as a social problem - linked with poverty and its many attendant ills." (pg. 15)

The rooms of small houses had multiple functions according to the needs of the family. When houses got larger, the interiors were divided into more rooms which were then designated for specific purposes. The number of rooms in a house was a status symbol. Room designations such as the kitchen, bathroom, parlour etc, evolved over the centuries with the social and cultural changes in the people. The room placements have shifted for privacy and social reasons. Keeping up with the trend and the perceptions of others were important for the arrangement of the household.

Before zoning, the city centre offered "mingling of new and old, wealth with poverty, commerce and manufacturing, bureaucracy and domesticity..." (pg. 112) High land and construction costs, increased zoning, exacting building codes, personal tastes and incomes have all played a role in the evolving housing ideals even though the american dream is still present. (pg. 132) The above mentioned influences are particularly changing the look of the urban fabric from a housing standpoint.

When setbacks were created, the space between the street and the house formed the front yard or lawn, a transitional space from the public realm to the private. The well-to-do's first added this level of privacy. Everyone else slowly followed. "Well-clipped lawns bespeak domesticity, good housekeeping, and a healthy family life inside the home." (pg. 148) This visual conformity made its way to some housing developments such as height restrictions or use of ornaments.

Eventually, people started turning their backs on the front yard, neighbourly sociability and the community in favour of their own private backyard space. Even densely populated housing, without front or back yard to oneself, has an increased sense of privacy. (pg. 158)

"Over time the telephone, the radio, and television, and lately the fax and the Internet, have brought the community into the heart of the home, bypassing the front door in the process." (pg. 159)
"In various ways we now can enjoy the society of others while remaining at home by ourselves." (pg. 159)

I feel this last statement is the start of yet another social problem. A partial solution to the small house "social problem" would be to leave the house and go elsewhere for some time. Whereas today you just change rooms or technologies for something new to do. Where is the happy medium between social and private time or space?

images of things that excite me!

House Tower

- Atelier Bow-Wow

House A

- Ryue Nishizawa

Postmen's Flats
- Phillippe Gazeau

Apartments on a long and narrow lot

- Herzog & De Meuron

17 Residential Houses
- Geurst & Schulze Architekten

Van Doren Apartment
- Cho Slade Architecture

Apartment Putxet

- Eduard Samso

What is 'home'?

Definition of home:

- a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family or household
- the dwelling place or retreat of an animal

Definition of dwell:

- to live or stay as a permanent resident; reside
- to live or continue in a given condition or state

" the dwelling is the warm and pleasant refuge in which we feel protected..." (Mostaedi, pg 7)

The 'home' is a place for rest, relaxation and nourishment. Those are essential for healthy living. 'Home' is also a place for comfort and safety. One could go as far to say the home is "a sanctuary in which to take refuge from chaos."

Individualism is a calm and considered feeling which disposes each citizen to isolate himself from the mass of his fellows and withdraw into the circle of family and friends; with this little society formed to his taste, he gladly leaves the greater society to look after itself.

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835

An efficient house plan would allow for the essentials but not allow the occupant(s) to over indulge in solitude with excessive space. Socializing and being a part of a community is also important to a healthy lifestyle. There are activities and other places/spaces that exist outside of the home and the office. Public buildings and public spaces are designed for the people. If the home offers less, people will be inclined more to leave them once in a while.

Capsules

Nakagin Capsule Tower, Tokyo, Japan 1972 designed by Kisho Kurokawa

The Capsule Tower was a mixed-use building with offices and experimental "housing" units. It could hold 140 capsules. The original demographic target was single businessmen. Each capsule contains a bed, a desk, a full bathroom and storage. Individualism was expressed through basic plan variations, interior finishes and colours.
This building has been slated for demolition.

Barton Fink, 1991

Last night I watched Barton Fink directed by the Coen Brothers. The story takes place in 1941. Barton Fink moves to Hollywood to become a hotshot playwright. He did not want to be in a classy hotel or suite and opted for Hotel Earle. The hotel clerk asks Fink upon checking in "are you a residence or a transient?". The hotel stationary states "Hotel Earle A day or A Lifetime". Fink remains in the hotel for the whole film, makes a friend with his neighbour, and becomes accustomed to the ways of living there.





There were many shots of the long, never-ending corridor. Some were eerie and some were mesmerizing.

On the idea that hotel and home are inter-changeable, I have found a quote from a book dated 1941. At Your Service: The Way of Life in a Hotel by Ludwig Bemelmans.

At its best a hotel is just that - "a temporary home". To say that he "feels at home there" is the highest compliment a guest can pay a hotel. The furnishing of shelter, rest, and good food is still the basic service rendered by the hotel since its earliest form.

Place,Space, Identity and Home

From the The Concept of Dwelling:

Collective dwelling, thus, is not a mere coming together, but a being in the world somewhere as somebody. It is the somewhere, the place, which makes life visible. It fixes or keeps life, in the sense of a record or image which remains, explains and invites. Therefore we are conditioned by the place; we gain our identity when we choose among the images it offers, and may for instance say: "I am a Roman." pg. 51

In the film Barfly, directed by Barbet Schroeder in 1987, the main character Henry is identified by place. He is the 'barfly'. He is content with this reputation and way of life. He earns money when he needs it, living spontaneously, while maintaining a loose routine. Henry was offered the "fine life" when he got a short story published but declined the offer because he preferred the life he had, the life he knew with certainty.





I found this quote suitable "the alienated modern urban dweller tended to 'undergo' his town and find 'self expression more in keeping with his nomadic life [driven from place to place by the cycle of development/decay/redevelopment] in his motorcar'." Pawley, pg 96.

The individuals search for identity goes to the next scale; the dwelling or home. People want to personalize their home/property which best suits and describes them. The home is a status symbol. Pawley writes:

As for durables, the home should be designed to display 'cars, caravans or motorboats', a manifest impossibility in high density and high-rise projects where in any case opportunities for personalization of any kind are drastically reduced. pg. 97

This view is from a slightly older source, however, I believe the second part of the sentence about personalization still holds true to a great number of people today. How does one design affordable living arrangements in a multi-storey building, yet leave enough room for individuality?

Ossified Homes

Ossify - to become rigid or inflexible in habits, attitudes, opinions, etc.

Housing Types in North America:

Rural:
One Room House - average square 16'6"x16'6"
Stack House - extended one room up (double storey)
Saddlebag House - two rooms with chimney in the middle
Dogtrot House - two rooms separated by an open-air hallway
"I" Type House - two rooms with filled in hallway and extended up
Plantation - multi-roomed with open galleries

Urban:
Bandbox House - slightly smaller than one room extended up three storeys
Shotgun House - smaller single rooms extended horizontally
Semi-detached House - two houses with a shared party wall
Row Houses - more than two houses with shared walls

"...the basic configuration of the North American house has changed very little. In other words, we still live and sleep in square or rectangular rooms..." (Friedman, pg. 85)

The "acceptable" house has more square and rectangular rooms with the notion that "bigger is better". Average household today is 2,000 square feet compared to the 300 square feet of the one room house. To achieve these big houses, one has to escape the high density of the city and move to the suburbs.

*insert lyrics to ossified homes by The Lovely Feathers*

Where do all the single people go?

"For a surprising number of people, the types of homes available out there do not match their needs. Many would-be homeowners have been priced out of the market, many cannot find homes that suit the way they live, and many have simply been left by the wayside in their pursuit of one of the most basic components of the North American Dream."

"It should come as no surprise that while large homes are still being built, many buys are searching for smaller, cheaper dwelling units more suited to their scaled-down requirements for space." (pg. 6)

"The vast majority of non-family householders are people who live on their own. Single dwellers have tripled their share of total households since the war: one in four of all homes now belongs to a lone occupant." (pg. 7)

"The planning and building of new homes and communities must provide the varied housing types that will accommodate the many preferences of an evolving population." (pg. 94)

"Whether downtown or in a suburb, the answer to the greatest demand in housing both socially and economically, may just be a well-designed but flexible compact home in a dense and varied environment." (pg. 149)

The creation of the automobile changed the design and space of the built environment. The relationship between building and street, street edge definition and human scale was lost. (pg. 153)

Friedman, Avi & Krawitz, David. Peeking Through the Keyhole: The Evolution of North American Homes.

Brief History of Flophouses

Flophouses, single room occupancy (SRO), lodging houses, etc. existed in major cities urban centres. The theory behind SRO hotels is "that they are residential stations where vulnerable people who are "well" enough to live apart from institutional supervision can begin the process of reentry into community life." (Hamburger, Robert. All the Lonely People: Life in a Single Room Occupancy Hotel)
After WWII, everything changed. City housing codes changed, social and housing programs were created, and the industrialization of home building took off with the 'american dream'. Returning vets, who were once flop dwellers, were now housed by the government. Real estate speculation and building conversion drove a good number of men into the streets leaving just a few SRO hotels operating today.
"Part prison, part way station, part shelter, part psychiatric hospital, part shooting gallery, part old-age home, each hotel has distinctive character and clientel." (Isay, David. Flophouse: Life on the Bowery)

Images of Home
Rosanne Haggerty reinvents the flophouse as a clean, well-lighted place. metropolis article

Making a Flophouse a Home, and a Decent One at That nytimes article