This studio focuses on the interdependent relationship between the Massing of a project and its smallest component or Unit. It also focuses on the notion of ‘Context’ or ‘Specific Condition of Place’ and the role it plays in an architectural design process. The Machine is a project that rethinks residential spaces while exploring different and New Ways of Living. It is also an exercise in planning and organization through the design and repetition of a standard living unit.
Based on specific case studies, each student proposed an Extreme Case or Crisis Scenario projecting a New Way of Living on earth as well as an Imagined Sites, thus drastically transforming the precedent unit. The New Unit reflected the conceptual framework of the proposed scenario and the functional aspect related to it. The Machine was designed as an Organizational System of 6-8 units repeated. The chosen organization reflected the specificities of the Imagined site and addressed 1. The circulation from, to and between the units, 2. The shared spaces between the units, 3. The access to the project, 4. The integration within the site, 5. The spatial qualities within the project, and to a certain extent, 6. The structure.
Our role as architects requires a constant process or re-questioning, re-interpretation and re-formulation of recurring thematic and possible changes. The object of this exercise is to examine formal standards, typologies and architectural programs and propose better suited projects.