KJP

secondary dwellings

PROF. ANDREW COLOPY & PROF. DANNY SAMUELS // TOTALIZATION PARTNER JACK HILCHEY // FALL 2018

In the Fifth Ward of Houston, streets organize life and the street has been historically a place to mix. Friends and neighbors gather for barbecues on their lawns and stories on their porches. This project seeks to bridge gaps between neighbors, living in the main unit and secondary units, by extending the kitchen to the outdoors and blurring the boundaries between the units.

The aim of the studio is to show that a typical Houston lot can be divided into two properties, each of which can have a house and an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). Each structure, both primary and secondary on either side of the lot, deform from the same primitive. The formal and social hierarchies between dwelling units are broken down by coordinated folding that offer all of the units equal and fair amenities,.The first fold orients all of the main facades of the units to the inner streets, not the main street, which breaks down the hierarchy between the front and back units. The second unit creates a fold from the second to the first level to form an overhang over the kitchen counter. These overhangs align between the units creating tunnel-like views along the streets. The third fold creates sunrooms that sit between the first and second floors, orientifing views up and on the exterior creating pointed similarities between the units.

These deformations made by folding work to perceptually blur the square footage differences between the primary and secondary units, in addition to highlighting and reinforcing special programmatic areas like sunrooms and the kitchens that stretch inside and outside spaces. The organization of these units in relation to one another connects them diagonally, laterally, and longitudinally, forging relationships between the units. The scheme provides many opportunities for variable forms of social gatherings and accidental meetings that would allow for relationships between neighbors.  

Animation video of the deformation of the home prototype, as well as the deformations onto two sites in Houston