Regenerative Community

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Regenerative Community

Type

Residential › Private House Multi Unit Housing

The concept for the project was proposed for the ‘housing tomorrow 2010’ competition hosted by d3. Founded in 2008, d3 is an organization committed to advancing innovative positions in art, architecture, and design by providing a collaborative environment for artists, architects, designers, and students from throughout New York City and around the world. The project statement can be found below:

The falsehoods of endless growth and resources, combined with a marketed vision of the “American Dream” have created an unsustainable way of life in American Suburbia. Already the massive expanse of urban sprawl has destroyed much of the American landscape, stretched our resources and infrastructures, and left many of our urban centers vacant and depressed. We are rapidly approaching a tipping point where our own way of life will destroy our quality of life and the natural environment we inhabit and rely on.
To create substantive change, we must not only find a more sustainable way of living, but our communities should be actively engaged as mechanisms for economic, social, and environmental restoration. As the American economy has shifted away from an industrial base, large swaths of land have been left empty, but ravaged by years of industrial abuse. As an alternative to natural or agricultural land, these brownfields provide excellent opportunities for new development. By using these sites new developments can not only avoid damaging further land resources, but can participate in the ecological rejuvenation of these sites. Our project explores a system of distinctly American suburban living that is both highly sustainable and actively engaged in the restoration of the social and ecological fabric of its site.
A system that allows a community to grow and shrink is intrinsically more sustainable socially and environmentally. Our housing units are designed to react to the volatile nature of economies and ecologies. Each unit is able to exist as a singular home or within a dense urban compound. To be a viable alternative to the typical suburban home, a new housing type must reflect the values that make American suburban life desirable. However, since these values have led to many of the problems of modern suburbia, how these values are manifested must be rethought. The four key values that have defined the vision of American Suburbia are independence, privacy, community, and ownership.
To achieve the ideal of independence, manifested today by a car centric culture, we have created a system that, while allowing easy car use also provides other options for transportation by co-opting existing railways for a public transportation system. Also by removing the rigidity of the suburban street grid and replacing it with an organic plate, the homeowner can choose their own location within the community.
To achieve the ideal of privacy, manifested today by large fenced in yards, we have designed units with built-in garden space to provide private solace. The center core of each unit acts as a major source of light and natural air flow, while also serving as the main circulation. However, while this core connects multiple units and is very permeable, the layout has been methodically designed to obstruct all views into the private units.
To achieve the ideal of community, manifested today by homogenous rows of “ideal” homes, our home system creates greater connections to food and resource production so members of this community will feel a stronger tie and have a deeper reliance on their community.
Finally, to achieve the ideal of ownership, manifested today by the constant accumulation of material goods and massive displays of wealth, we have created a housing type that allows a personal connection with one’s home. Much like specialty car manufacturing each house can be highly customizable – while maintaining the same core systems and necessities, each house can be designed for the homeowners’ desires and needs.