Major Life Events

How flexible is your home? If you gained a family member or lost a family member or began losing mobility how comfortable would your home be?

My grandparents are finally looking toward moving to a smaller location. They have lived in a huge pile of a house for around 40 years. They bought the house to house their hoard of 8 children. As the kids grew up additions were made, renovations were done, and eventually the house was basically emptied of children. But my grandmother continued to throw rather large dinner parties that demanded the space.

However, now my grandmother is having troubles with arthritis and my grandfather has just had knee surgury and neither of them really feel up to the task of maintaining so many rooms, let alone climbing the stairs to the main level then more stairs to the bedrooms then more stairs to get to the basement.

A major question in this becomes what to do with all the stuff? My grandparents have been doling out stuff for years and still seem to have a steady supply. Books, photo albums, music (LPs, CDs, and sheet music), equipment (my grandmother has an impressive sewing room and my grandfather a well stocked work shop), furniture, art, and enough canned foods for several years.

Do current technological advances help alleviate this issue somewhat? Most of my photos are on disks and my hard drive. My art is documented digitally to allow me to take it with me anywhere. My music collection is mostly on my harddrive and my iPod. My books are still a problem. My electronic devises take up a good percentage of my material wealth. And they can be trimmed. I don't really NEED a desktop computer in addition to my laptop, but it is nice. Perhaps it's also that I have less of an attatchment to my things. My desk is from a friend. I found my drafting table, my couch, and several other things on the side of the road. My bed and shelves I have actually invested something in. But all the shelves fold down flat. The bed is just too good to pass up, though tatami mats and a (good) futon would have been very nice as well. My rabbits' cage takes up some space, but as far as they are concerned, they should have the run of the house all the time anyway.

A flexible arrangment that allows for easy manipulation, addition and subtraction of building elements and rooms could possibly save people the future hassle of this. Maybe. It's still very hard for me to think of what can be done with books. I'm not one to give up my books.

Potential for Disaster Recovery

Developing a nomadic architecture that can be comfortable (and fashionable... we have to make money somehow) is important, however, with the development of a successful system for nomadic living, applications in disaster areas will be a likely next step.

With the development of an urban infastructure system that can be easily depolyed in disaster sites, areas can be prepared rapidly for rehabitation. Once the foundation is laid and utilities ready to plug into units, residents can access units to plug into the sites as they are prepared to move back. If the pieces are affordable and durable enough, they could easily become more than temporary housing.

It would not be hard to be better than a FEMA trailer.

New Orleans is, of course, a perfect and easily accessible case study. I will start looking into FEMA trailers and other proposed solutions to this area, especially the Katrina Cottage.

renting vs owning

"The Times analysis made a number of assumptions favorable to buyers, like giving them full credit for the deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes, noted Mark Zandi, chief economist of Economy .com, a research company. Still, the monthly costs of buying were more expensive than those for renting in any market where the price of a typical house was more than 20 times larger than the annual rent to live in it.

In the Bay Area, this "rent ratio" exceeds 33. In New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Miami, it is just above 25. A typical four-bedroom house in Brookline, Mass., for example, costs about $1.2 million to buy and $4,500 a month to rent, according to Chobee Hoy Associates Real Estate, a brokerage there.

At 20, Washington is right near the cutoff. But renters who live in apartment buildings, like Mr. Baker, often get an extra benefit: some portion of their utilities bill is typically covered by the building's owner.

Mr. Owen, the loan officer in Miami, and his girlfriend, Polly Thompson, pay $1,700 a month for a top-floor apartment that has views of both the city's skyline and the Atlantic Ocean. After talking to brokers, he said he thought that the apartment would sell for close to $650,000, giving it a rent ratio of more than 30.

"It's obvious," he said, "that renting is such a better deal."

But to many people, the psychological benefits of buying are almost impossible to overcome. Owning makes them feel that they have achieved the American dream, or it gives them the secure sense that, if nothing else, they have a tangible asset where they can sleep at night.

Those are nice feelings, indeed. The question is how much they are worth to you."

from NYTimes, 25 Sept 2005

website under construction

Early re-development of my personal website to accomadate my thesis research and proposals has begun. See it here.

More Case Studies

Double Decker Living

April 10, 2006 Double-decker buses have long been an iconic part of daily life in Britain, changing their look every few years, but always providing a constant service. Now an innovative concept from Double Decker Living is aiming to deliver a much needed alternative in temporary living space that is tailored to meet the ever increasing demand for comfortable, value for money, short term accommodation that exists within cities. Each bus has been designed to accommodate areas for sleeping, eating, dressing, showering and relaxation. A communal lounge/dining area downstairs has comfortable sofas, a table, a state-of-the-art LCD TV and a DVD player. There is a full service kitchen that features a fridge, hob and microwave where meals can be prepared.

Upstairs, five individual sleeping areas provide a place to relax and each berth has its own entrance, window, a single bed, power supply and lockable storage. Towards the front of the bus, there is a vanity area with dressing table as well dressing room with lockable wardrobes that provides ample private space to ready for the day.

The environmentally sound buses are fully mobile and can be connected to local supplies or operate independently. Each bus is fitted with a solar panel to minimise electrical consumption while “run quiet” generators and heaters reduce noise pollution. The WC waste is rapidly converted to compost and is collectedly regularly as is waste water. Refuse and recycling bins are also integrated into the design. Even transport has been carefully considered and two folding bicycles are included for residents’ use.

Jason Hart of Double Decker Living explains, “We are proud of our alternative solution to the ever increasing need for short term living spaces within the capital. The interior of the buses provides a high standard of accommodation whilst the exterior remains a much loved and recognised symbol of London. We are ensuring that the iconic double-decker is still working for London.”

The idea was prompted by the controversial phasing-out of Routemasters.

Unsold homes

Why, I wonder, asside from economic issues, are their an estimated 3.86 million houses that were unsold as of July?

economic issues: "Consumers who watched their homes rise rapidly in value over the last several years felt wealthy and more inclined to spend. They also borrowed against their homes -- treating them like ATMs -- to support their spending ways." AP, 8/23/06

---------------------------------updated 8/23/06--------------------------------------

I suppose I have been reading too much of Karel Teige, who did studies of housing in the 1920s-30s in various European countries and found that if all of the existing apartments were modified slightly to become socialist (no private kitchen, communal dining and social areas, etc) then it would provide a roof over everyone's head.

I have relayed several of these theories to my in house communism and socialism expert, and we're in the process of trying to sort out what implications his socialist concepts could have to housing in the US. Thus far, we have a tentative yes it could work if the cost of the housing declined enough for the lower strata to have a greater flexibility in housing that is now associated with the middle to upper classes.

Even if Teige were slightly off his gourd, it's still stunning to compare the numbers of unsold homes to the numbers of homeless in the US: An estimated 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year (1% of the entire U.S. population or 10% of its poor), and about 842,000 people on any given day. (from Wikepedia)

Cars, Architecture and the American Nomad

“Home, rather than being a specific geographic location, is more and more about a set of personal activities, habits, and relationships than an established continuum of habitation in the same location.” (Swartz-Claus, 23)

Thesis

The automobile culture of the past century has been a driving force behind many architectural developments, specifically suburban sprawl, the massive and complex U.S. highway system and the trend toward mobility. Burgeoning environmental and socio-economic pressures combine with this culture to prime Americans for a shift toward Existence Minimum and a nomadic lifestyle.

Theme

The average American moves every six years, spends seven weeks of every year in a car and upwards of $6,000 annually on their car. Americans are members of a growing throwaway consumer culture, where every commodity has a limited lifespan, even the house one lives in.

The automobile is an omnipresent element in American society, culture, and economics — so pervasive that its impact is often overlooked not only by the average American, but often by civic leaders and city planners. It has encouraged the development of a transient population and put a strain on traditional forms of city development. It also represents a major investment, often thought of in the same way as investing in a house. Maintenance, repair, and regular replacement of at least one vehicle is a major aspect of the budget of most Americans.

We may soon look back to “The Age of the Automobile” with wry nostalgia. A seemingly endless flow of Inexpensive oil allowed America’s car culture to aggressively expand. Increased demand for oil in other world markets and recent disruptions in domestic oil production have stretched supplies and driven costs to new heights. The biological principle that growth is controlled by the scarcest resource available is equally applicable in economics, and indicates that the increasing scarcity of oil will significantly impact our car culture and ring in a new era of American Existence Minimum.

The Existence Minimum movement of the early 20th century was almost exclusively a European phenomenon. I propose that a re-examination and further development of its theories will make it applicable in the United States. The new Existence Minimum will encompass more than the most efficient living in the smallest space possible: it will be highlighted by a move toward making a smaller imprint environmentally while operating on a smaller budget. This coincides with nomadic architecture because it necessitates a more compact and efficient use of space to allow for mobility.

These issues will be explored at three scales:

Urban— how urbanists and city planners can begin to think in a way that is less about sprawl and more about infill and efficient use of already developed land as well as the development of the infrastructural needs of the lifestyle.

Organizational— a focused development of architecture as furniture. Developing means and methods for distribution, assembly, upgrading, replacement, and transportation of the elements of a house will be the primary concerns. This includes an intense investigation into the size, use and makeup of spaces that make up a building as interchangeable modules.

Architectural — based on developments in materials and methods that allow architecture to make a minimal impact on the environment while at the same time making it less materially transient and more mobile. This will include a strong emphasis on prefabrication and sustainability.

Vehicle

A continuing investigation into the structural and infrastructural demands that would develop in response to a truly mobile architecture will be the underlying structure (forgive the pun) of the project. In addition, an investigation into the spatial needs of the various programs will be in order, as current norms may not necessarily be the most appropriate.

A series of small projects will be pursued to test the needs and limitations of this lifestyle as well as to establish potential cultural implications. Several prototypes will be examined that will focus on different mobile lifestyles: the ever-moving and the semi-nomadic; the single-family and the bachelor; and means of locomotion. The first dichotomy focuses on the difference in use, whether it is mostly transient or more related to the upwardly mobile segment of American homeowners who move regularly to bigger and better surroundings. The second will be an exploration of the different needs of a family with multiple members as opposed to the relatively simple bachelor lifestyle. The final category will explore a variety of options for the means of “nomadicity”[1].

All of the prototypes developed will rely heavily on techniques of prefabrication, developments in materials technology, and sustainability practices.

Theoretical Precedents: Carchitecture

Bell, Jonathan, ed. and contributor. Carchitecture: When the Car and the City Collide.

London: August, 2001.

Through a series of written and photographic essays, this collection of works seeks a way to reconcile the automobile and the city. All of them reveal developments and potential futures that the interaction of the automobile in our present urban environments can lead to.

Of particular interest is the essay by Heather Pullock “Bring Your Own Space.” She investigates the phenomenon of the Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV). As a result of the increasing density of cars in cities, and the resulting gridlock, car designers began developing cars that were more like living rooms on wheels than small steel prisons. As with any small house, the major concerns that are addressed by the designers of these vehicles are comfort, flexibility, storage, and “coolness” (the occasionally dramatic steps taken to avoid looking like a van show that “soccer moms”, no matter how abundant, are not the epitome of fashionable). Advances in technology have also allowed the car to serve purposes beyond transportation. DVD players built into the car, wireless internet, GPS, and cellular phones make it possible to spend more and more time inside the car.

The piece by Jonathan Bell, “The American Dream,” discusses the blind and passionate love that Americans maintain for their cars. This has lead to such cultural phenomena as car rallies, biker gangs, and NASCAR. In addition, the loops jumped through by urban planners and architects to accommodate the car have changed the face of cities all over the globe, resulting in new elements of the city: car dealerships, swaths of parking lots, towers of parking garages, twisting highway systems and overpasses, and the seemingly omnipresent gas station. Pedestrians have even become dependent on the necessities of the car centered world, relying on traffic lights and street signs to get around on foot and learning a due reverence to the cars right to the middle of the road.[2]

Theoretical Precedents: Flexibility

Boudon, Phillipe. Lived in Architecture: Le Corbusier’s Pessac Revisited. Translated by

Gerald Onn. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1972.

This record of the effects of inhabitants on architecture discusses Le Corbusier’s Quatiers Modernes Fruges, his first large-scale housing development in Pessac. It consisted of 51 housing units in Le Corbusier’s famous International Style. The buildings were flat-roofed with flowing open floor plans and large areas of glass allowing immense amounts of natural light into the spaces.

Interest in the buildings was sparked when an investigation into their state of being turned up a commune that was almost unrecognizable. Residents had taken numerous liberties with the properties, adding traditional roofs, building on additions, filling vast expanses of windows, and partitioning the interior beyond recognition. This adaptation of the buildings reveals the natural place-making tendencies that humans show in their environments. This can be witnessed at home, both at this scale of manipulation and at more modest scales of changes; at work, where even the smallest of cubicles is inevitably personalized with innumerable odds and ends; and even in public spaces, as any visit to a beach on the Forth of July or any of the big stages at New Orleans’Jazz Fest will demonstrate. When options for change are not provided, they are invented.

This also reveals that the desire to transform ones environment can become a very lucrative market that has only begun to be capitalized on. (More on the sins of capitalism under the discussion of Karel Teige’s The Minimal Dwelling.) Providing means of flexibility that do not have to involve the use of new raw materials can be worked into buildings in many forms, from replaceable or upgradeable pieces to the flexibility of location that portable buildings can provide.

Theoretical Precedents: Existence Minimum

Brown, Azby. The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space.

Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 2005.

Azby Brown discusses the trend of building and living small in Japan. His book features a series of houses that range from 540 to 1,730 sq. ft. and are successful in a series of criteria that are relatively universal in architectural design. The criteria sound about the same as that for a larger building: quality lighting, useful kitchen, abundant storage, privacy, and access to the outdoors (though not quite Le Corbusier’s “remote sublime”).

These criteria are complemented by a section dedicated to “Details that Make a Difference.” Here he discusses techniques that are used in the featured houses that make these houses models of comfort, style, and efficiency. These vary from custom designed space saving devices to existing methods that are based in the culture (most notably the tatami).

The Japanese model for efficiency in the form of multi-function spaces, storage solutions and the strategic use of partitions is an important precedent for any discussion on the potential for modern applications of Existence Minimum. Though the majority of the houses listed are custom houses with a heavy reliance on traditional construction techniques, the spatial and organizational methods employed will have a strong influence on the proposal of prefabricated solutions.

Theoretical Precedents: Nomadic Lifestyle

Schwartz-Clauss, Mathias and Alexander von Vegesack, ed. Living in Motion: Design

and Architecture for Flexible Dwelling. Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Stiftung gGmbH, 2002.

A publication based on the Living in Motion exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum, this series of essays seeks to understand the importance and the definition of place in terms of domestic architecture. It includes images from the exhibition, as well as other supplementary material. Robert Kronenburg and Mathias Swatz-Claus offer historical surveys of nomadism. These essays are supplemented by submissions from a broad range of professionals, including sociologist Stephan Rammler, psychologist Antje Flade, anthropologist Stephanie Bunn, and ethnologist Annemarie Seiler-Baldinger.

The primary themes that run through all of the works are those of the importance of place/place making and flexibility. The ways in which individuals and cultures define place (both intellectually and physically) have a dramatic effect on the flexibility of the environment in which one lives. The proposal from many of the authors is the importance of the ability of the individual to adapt their environment to suit their needs and situation. This flexibility is less inherent in the current system of American residential architecture, and is explored in several of the objects and buildings in the exhibition that accompanies this book.

This is a particularly important book to my research as the current impression of a nomadic lifestyle and the existing documentation of the physiological and psychological effects of a transient lifestyle are important to separate. This is supplemented by a continuing scouring of newspapers (primarily the New York Times) and magazines (primarily National Geographic) in order to establish current sociological and economic trends related to these issues.

Theoretical Precedents: Existence Minimum

Teige, Karel. The Minimum Dwelling. Translated by Eric Dluhosch. Cambridge, Mass:

The MIT Press, 1932.

Teige’s early 20^th century diatribe on the frailties of the capitalist system promotes the concept of the minimal dwelling as a solution to many of Europe’s ills of the time. Among these are inadequate living conditions due to inflation and the ravages of war, housing shortages, social isolation, physical health risks of the cities, and the decrease in the number architects working first for the social good.

The primary function of the book is to explore the minimal dwelling -- a space that is trimmed down to the needs of sleeping and private family life. His investigation into rental properties that already exist in various cities leads him to believe that a restructuring of the way the “home” is thought about and used would allow each individual to not only have a roof over their head, but also a private space of their own. This is supplemented in a socialist fashion by utilizing communal kitchen, dining, and social spaces. Much of the writing surrounding this discussion is focused on how to implement this socialist system of living while both eliminating the problems that had arisen from the unchecked growth of cities and population and promoting an “America with Socialism.”

Though this book, and Teige himself, fell out of favor with the Soviet government shortly after its publication, many of the concepts it espouses were very influential in the development of modernism. Many of the theories advanced, especially those of the rethinking of the public and social functions that really need to occur within the confines of the private home, were explored by several architects.

It is important to consider examples of socialist architecture that came around the time of the publication of this book. In 1928, The Narkomfin Apartments by Moses Ginsburg (who Teige compliments unabashedly on p25) represented Teige’s ideals for the minimal socialist lifestyle, with communal kitchens, eating space, and communal lounges.

Case Studies

This list is not comprehensive, but is an introduction to the case studies I have been looking at. Particular attention during selection has been given to the context, total area and footprint, portability, efficiency, and the control of light and privacy.

Mobile Architecture:

Loftcube

Architect: Werner Aisslinger

Location: Germany

Date: 2003

Type: Residential, mobile

Lot Size: variable

Total Floor Area: 388 sq. ft.

Reference: Topham, Sean. Move House. Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2004, p88-89.

Aisslinger, Werner. LoftCube. http://www.loftcube.net/main.html (accessed

on 18 August 2006).

The goal behind the Loftcube is to create a “city to city network for transient living.” With Berlin’s numerous flat roofed downtown buildings in mind, the architect developed small loft-like installations that could be placed on rooftops. The cubes are customizable with relation to the exterior porosity, the interior partitioning, and colors. Careful attention is given to the quality of light and privacy given to each interior space. This is achieved by using different types of fabricated panels (transparent, translucent, louvered, or opaque) to articulate the skin. Wall panels on the interior are functional (whether for storage or utilities) or can be movable to allow maximum flexibility.

Aisslinger has laid out a step-by-step process of installation that includes the adjustments made to the existing infrastructure (running of utilities to and checking the load constraints of the roofs). This process of adjustment, rather than relying on new construction, minimizes the impact on the environment and maximizes the transient nature of the cubes.

Cocobello: Mobile Atelier

Architect: Peter Haimerl

Location: Germany

Date: 2002

Type: Residential, mobile

Lot Size: 194 sq. ft.

Total Floor Area: 452 sq. ft.

Reference: Topham, Sean. Move House. Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2004, p108-109.

The Cocobello is a self-contained, easily transported unit that is composed of 3 interlocking elements that expand to create a 452 sq. ft., 2-story unit or contract to a roughly 10’x20’x10’ box for ease of transportation. The lower level contains a bathroom, kitchen, storage space, and a retracting stair. The upper level spreads to form a T-shaped building when it is finished unfolding. Customization of the opacity of the upper level allows it to conform to various functions.

It was not specifically designed for residential use, but instead as a means of having a mobile studio or office that doubles as a distinct and captivating form of advertisement.

Tumbleweed

Architect: Jay Shafer

Location: USA

Date: 1997

Type: Residential, mobile

Lot Size: variable

Total Floor Area: 100 sq. ft.

Reference: Topham, Sean. Move House. Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2004, p30-31.

Shafer, Jay. Tumbleweed Tiny Houses Company (2006).

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ (accessed18 August 2006).

Jay Shafer built his first Tumbleweed house in 1997 in response to minimum residential size standards that prevented him from making a permanent shift to an Existence Minimum lifestyle. He designed the building in a Cape Cod vernacular style, with careful attention to storage, transitional areas and insulation that would allow the building to be lived in year round. He then strapped it onto a trailer and began his happy life at a smaller scale.

(Note: He was unable to purchase a city lot on which to park his house so he ended up having to buy a house and live in the garden.)

Small House

Architect: Bauart Architekten

Location: Mobile

Date: 2000

Type: Residential

Lot Size: variable

Total Floor Area: 675 sq. ft.

Reference: Bahamon, Alejandro, ed. Mini House. Barcelona: Loft Publications, 2003,

p134-139.

This building, distributed by WeberHaus, is a fully functional residence that can be placed on any site. This very sculptural building has the potential for appealing to a public that desires a level of sophistication and traditional luxury elements (like an inner atrium). The interior is equipped with a full kitchen and bathroom (with a bathtub, making it one of the most luxurious bathrooms available in a small, prefab house). Unlike several of the other buildings described, this one offers a level of flexibility that allows for later expansions as new needs arise.

Non-mobile projects of interest:

Model Plastic Residence

Architect: Masao Koizumi/C+A

Location: Kanagawa, Japan

Date: 1995

Type: Residential

Lot Size: unknown

Total Floor Area: 1,205 sq. ft.

Reference: Bahamon, Alejandro, ed. Mini House. Barcelona: Loft Publications, 2003,

p40-45.

The Japanese neighborhood in which this project is located is a collection of two-story single-family houses on relatively small lots and very close proximity to their neighbors. This led to the use of standardized panels of varying permeability as the primary cladding of the building. This allowed for the control of light and privacy, while at the same time significantly decreasing on-site assembly time and the impact on the surroundings.

“The properties of glass for construction purposes were rethought. Generally a material for openings, in this case it was used mainly for the walls…” (Bahamon, 41)

Elektra House

Architect: David Adjaye

Location: London, United Kingdom

Date: 2001

Type: Residential

Lot Size: unknown

Total Floor Area: 1,291 sq. ft.

Reference: Bahamon, Alejandro, ed. Mini House. Barcelona: Loft Publications, 2003,

p10-17.

This house utilizes the foundation and exterior walls of the existing belt factory that was on the site. A new metal framework allowed for the creation of a “house within a house.” (Bahamon 11)

This concept of reuse of existing structural conditions is not uncommon, but is perhaps underutilized. It is primarily relegated to custom projects, be they private residences, retail renovations, or large-scale condo renovations. If the concept of using existing foundations and structure were to be standardized with the same efficiency as the transportation industry has standardized their infrastructure (specifically in relation to ISOs), it could provide foundations that would accommodate a frequently changing set of occupants on any given lot.

Site Documentation

Due to the nature of the project, I will not be pursuing a single site, but a series of sites in different parts of the country and different urban conditions. In addition, as the prototypes will be unlikely to be site specific, the use of sites will be primarily for examination of adaptation to varying areas. The variety of climactic, cultural and urban conditions will allow me to test the limitations of the prototypes I develop. I will be using sites in Cambridge, Massachusetts (a series of small, urban infill sites near Harvard Square); Somerdale, New Jersey (a suburban community about 20 minutes from Philadelphia); Aurora, Colorado (another suburban community outside of Denver); and potential local sites in East New Orleans and the Warehouse District.

I have exhaustively photographed the sites in Cambridge and Somerdale over the summer. The neighborhood I’ll be working in Aurora will be fully documented through collaboration with my family. The New Orleans sites are still being selected.

Aerial photographs have been collected for all of the locations through Google Earth.

Zoning maps and plans of the areas are being collected through collaboration with the schools of architecture in the respective cities.

As the nature of some of the prototypes may well conflict with local and regional building codes, a reconsideration of the existing codes may be necessary as part of the development process.

Proposed Program

The primary thrust of my investigation will focus on residential designs. Determination of square footages will vary based on the prototype and the proposed occupants.

Residential:

Living Area

Sleeping Area

Kitchen/Cooking Area

¾ to Full Bath

Storage

Transportation Storage (car, bike, etc)

Utilities (could potentially be part of infrastructure and independent of house)

The potential for application of some of the prototypes to non-residential architecture will be touched upon. Rough guidelines will be supplemented by consideration of existing recommendations.

Retail:

Café

Kitchen/Food Prep Area

Dining Area

Foyer/Entry

Office

Half Bath

Storage

Clothing Store:

Sales Area

Dressing Rooms

Office

Half Bath

Storage

Loading dock/receiving area

Other Store:

Sales Area

Office

Half Bath

Storage

Loading dock/receiving area

Business:

Varies

Bibliography

1. Arieff, Allison. Prefab. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2002.

2. Aisslinger, Werner. Loft Cube. http://www.loftcube.net/main.html (accessed on 18

August 2006).

3. Bahamon, Alejandro, ed. Mini House. Barcelona: Loft Publications, 2003.

4. Bahamon, Alejandro, ed. Prefab: adaptable, modular, dismountable, light, mobile

architecture. New York: Harper Collins, 2002.

5. Bell, Jonathan. Carchitecture: When the Car and the City Collide. London:

August, 2001.

6. Brown, Azby. The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited

Space. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 2005.

7. Castillo, Encarna, ed. Minimalism Design Source. New York: Harper Collins,

2004.

8. Cherner, Norman. Fabricating Houses from Component Parts: How to Build a

House for $6000. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1957.

9. Duany, Andres and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Jeff Speck. Suburban Nation:

The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. New York: North Point Press, 2000.

10. Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random

House, 1961.

11. Kronenburg, Robert. Houses in Motion: The Genesis, History and Development

of the Portable Building. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.

12. Kronenburg, Robert. Portable Architecture. Burlington, Mass:

Elsevier/Architectural Press, 2003.

13. Schwartz-Clauss, Mathias and Alexander von Vegesack, ed. Living in Motion:

Design and Architecture for Flexible Dwelling. Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Stiftung gGmbH, 2002.

14. Shafer, Jay. Tumbleweed Tiny Houses Company (2006).

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ (accessed 18 August 2006).

15. Teige, Karel. The Minimum Dwelling. Translated by Eric Dluhosch. Cambridge,

Mass: The MIT Press, 1932.

16. Thompson, Eleanor McD., ed. The American Home: Material Culture, Comestic

Space, and Family Life. Winterthur, Delaware: The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc., 1998.

17. Topham, Sean. Move House. Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2004.

---

[1]"Nomadicity is the tendency of a person, or group of people, to move with relative frequency.” From “Definition of nomadicity,” Definitions, Dictionary for Internet and Computing Technologies (24 March 2006), http://www.whatis.com (accessed 19 August 2006).

[2] Jane Jacobs discusses this phenomenon in The Death and Life of Great American Cities. She reveals that in her experiences in Disneyland, people tend to respect the center of Main Street and stick to the edges, even though there are no cars there to take that right of way. (Jacobs)

Human Interest

This concept of existence minimum and nomadic lifestyle is definately not for everyone. Many people just don't want to live that way. The question becomes whether it is because of a desire to be landed or a lack of good and affordable design options for living that lifestyle.

Thesis v. 5.0

Thesis

The automobile culture of the past century has been a driving force behind many architectural developments, specifically suburban sprawl, the massive and complex U.S. highway system and the trend toward mobility. Burgeoning environmental and socio-economic pressures combine with this culture to prime Americans for a shift toward Existence Minimum and a nomadic lifestyle.

Theme

The average American moves every six years, spends seven weeks of every year in a car and upwards of $6,000 annually on their car.

The automobile is an omnipresent element in American society, culture, and economics — so pervasive that its impact is often overlooked not only by the average American, but often by civic leaders and city planners. It is a factor that must not be ignored, but recognized as an essential component of American history and culture… and that could potentially lead to further advances in Existence Minimum theory and application.

The Existence Minimum movement of the early 20th century was almost exclusively a European phenomenon. I propose that a re-examination and further development of its theories will make it applicable in the United States. The new Existence Minimum will encompass more than the most efficient living in the smallest space possible: it will be highlighted by a move toward making a smaller imprint environmentally while operating on a smaller budget.

This issue needs to be addressed not only on the organizational scale, but also on the urban scale — how can urbanists and city planners begin to think in a way that is less about sprawl and more about infill and efficient use of already developed land; and on an architectural scale — based on developments in materials and methods that allows architecture to make a minimal impact on the environment while at the same time making it less transient and more mobile.

I will pursue three major ideas: the development of nomadic architecture, including, but not limited to, residential and retail designs; how new developments in mobile living can effect the growth and makeup of cities and suburbs; and the infrastructural needs of this lifestyle.

Vehicle

A continuing investigation into the structural, as well as infastructural, demands that would develop in response to a truly mobile architecture will be the underlying structure (forgive the pun) of the project. In addition, an investigation into the spatial needs of the various programs will be in order, as current norms may not necessarily be the most appropriate.

A series of small projects will be pursued to test the needs and limitations of this lifestyle as well as to establish potential cultural implications. Three types of buildings will be developed: residential (single family, 3-4 people, and bachelor living, 1-2 people), retail (cafes, clothing stores, etc), and business. Several prototypes will be examined that will focus on different mobile lifestyles: the ever-moving and the semi-nomadic. The first is based on the idea of the current mobile home, where one moves at will and very regularly, if not always being on the move. The second is based on a concept that is also prevalent in American society: the upwardly mobile American who moves regularly to bigger and better surroundings.


Bibliography

Duany, Andres and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Jeff Speck. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. New York: North Point Press, 2000.

The authors of Suburban Nation bemoan the immense and unchecked growth of suburban sprawl as “a landscape in which automobile use is a prerequisite to social viability.” They define

Bell, Jonathan. Carchitecture: When the Car and the City Collide. London: August, 2001.

Teige, Karel. The Minimum Dwelling. Translated by Eric Dluhosch. Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, 1932.

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Case Studies

Urban, or high-density, Infill Projects:

Model Plastic Residence
Architect: Masao Koizumi/C+A
Location: Kanagawa, Japan
Date: 1995
Type: Residential
Area: 1,205 sq. ft.
Reference: Bahamon, Alejandro, ed. Mini House. Barcelona: Loft Publications, 2003.

Suburban, or low-density, Infill Projects:

Elektra House
Architect: David Adjaye
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date: 2001
Type: Residential
Area: 1,291 sq. ft.

Tower House
Architect: Frederick Phillips
Location: Chicago, United States
Date: 2001
Type: Residential
Area: 1,141 sq. ft.

Mobile Architecture:

Small House
Architect: Bauart Architekten
Location: Mobile
Date: 2000
Type: Residential
Area: 675 sq. ft.

Black Box
Architect: Andreas Hanrickson
Location: Halmstad, Sweden
Date: 1999
Type: Residential
Area: 355 sq. ft.

Proposed Program

Residential:

Living Area
Sleeping Area
Kitchen/Cooking Area
¾ to Full Bath
Storage
Transportation Storage (car, bike, etc)
Utilities (could potentially be part of infrastructure and independent of house)

Retail:

Café

Kitchen/Food Prep Area
Dining Area
Foyer/Entry
Office
Half Bath
Storage

Clothing Store:

Sales Area
Dressing Rooms
Office
Half Bath
Storage
Loading dock/receiving area

Other Store:

Sales Area
Office
Half Bath
Storage
Loading dock/receiving area


Business:

Varies