Creating a home for 1000 new residents was the objective, while considering the cost of materials and land as well as the location from where the materials would be imported from. The goal was to find materials that would be local or located within 300 miles from the site to provide jobs for people near the site and leave a smaller carbon footprint from the initial source.

 

The project Inheritance was similar to working in a firm since Mike had us swap projects half way through the semester making us design with something we may have not been familiar with. At the end of the semester a jury ranked us considering how we dealt with: cost, light, air, structure, mechanical systems and the overall design

 

My solution to the project inherited was to create a park in the middle of multiple buildings increasing social interaction.  Allowing every room to have natural daylight was my next task; to do this I separated every building by 25 feet allowing plenty of light and air into every room from either the East or West in addition to the light already gained from the North or South facing into the park. The corridor connecting the buildings  then do not split the building symmetrical as they are at the end of the apartment leaving a 25 foot void and vertical circulation would then be made out of natural and adaptive  plants and glass catching the public’s attention so that they enter the plaza/ greenspace. 

 

Aesthetics was also thought about since I did not want all of the buildings to look the same.  With this in mind I had interchangeable units that slide out of the structure.  Meaning of you own or inherit a unit and have to go to school or work in an alternative place you may ship the unit by train to its new destination. As long as a structure exists within the area you may slide your unit into the structure. The main level of the building is then multi-use so that the resources are conveniently placed for the owners and renters, decreasing car use due to the location. With this in mind I selected to infill a parking lot and reduce urban sprawl.

 

Additional programs learned and used thought this class where Rhino and Grasshopper.