On the Way Home
Competition to Determine What Makes a Home
2017
Work Type: Team of Two
Location: Taichung, Taiwan
Mentor: None
Role in Team: Research, Conceptual Design, Collage Perspectives, Isometrics, Technical Drawings, 3D Modelling, Unit Prototypes Design
What Exactly Generates the Feeling of Being Home?
We considered familiarity with objects, people, or scenes around a person as the definition of “home.” Sometimes these familiarities have to be taken as a whole, and sometimes they can be separated. The feeling of being home is not certainly private; some things that evoke a sense of home are shared with others. For example, the familiar smell in a market where people routinely pass by suggests the fact that those who live in the same area are back home.
Home is more than just a box with tables, beds, and other furniture. On the contrary, home is an experiential domain that is pervasive and its boundaries hard to define clearly.
Diaojiaolou - A Bridge of Personal and City Life
The architecture on the designated site in Taichung City, Diaojiaolou was a traditional type of housing that Chinese immigrants and veterans introduced to the city. It featured exposed and extended structures toward the riverbank so that residents could directly drain wastewater to the river below.
Both the external and internal configurations of Diaojiaolou show how the residents merged private and public activities that gradually integrated their life footprints into the public domain such as streets.
However, Diaojiaolou only existed for 60 years and has since been demolished. After the government requested veterans to move to military villages, the unoccupied buildings attracted various people to move in. Eventually, a renewal plan for the region led to their demolition due to their unattractive appearance.
Taichung Diajialou
Section of private and public layers
Real Estate vs. Home
Architects should not just work for real estate developers. According to the new definition of home, designers should create value for the general public and help all to make their own life scenario.
Unit Prototypes
Sort housing units into five prototypes depending on their level of privacy and publicness.
Daily Behaviors
The housing unit should be simple but encourage diverse events to take place instead of merely following function.
Structure Diagram
Traditional bamboo structure
Events and living scenarios that take place within and among the units form the familiar field that we call "home."
Familiar Domain in the City
Project gallery
