From the individual to the entire citizenry of a city, various scales of community define urban life. This proposal aims to make spaces that facilitate those various sized communities. The building takes on numerous dichotomies through it’s architecture: permanent – temporary, individual – community, exterior – interior.
The architecture is conceived as two related parts: The exterior Skeleton and The interior Flesh. Within an supporting structure or Skeleton, shared and individual spaces are carefully and efficiently carved. The interiors or Flesh are fitted within these carvings. Whereas the Skeleton is permanent and performs most of the generic functions of a building, the Flesh within is a possibly temporary, fashionable, yet effective intervention. This separation of the functions into a more permanent Skeleton and temporary Flesh allows for an easy modification of the interior when the market changes and condos or apartments make more financial sense.
While the Skeleton provides function and allows for maximum transformability of the interior, the Flesh organizes spaces and creates private and shared spaces. Students become grouped around shared facilities in a kind of open apartment arrangement. A hierarchy of spaces is as follows:
-Individual student rooms are designed to efficiently use space, maximize daylight, views, and ventilation. -Four efficient student rooms share a bathroom and kitchenette. Two of these groups are on each floor, separated by a courtyard, but sharing a balcony. -All the students share a common kitchen, dining room, living room, and terrace within the building. -The proposed building and the future adjacent building share a courtyard created by joining required open space. Courtyards are easily accessible through the building Skeleton to the street and city beyond.
The Skeleton, made from cast-in-place concrete, is structure and carries artificial heating and cooling, electricity, water, etc. These services are redundant, allowing for an easy transformation of the interior into condos, apartments, or other type as needed. Architecturally, the “bones” give a feeling of enclosure and strength. Daylight and natural cross ventilation are maximized through tall windows and shallow floor plates.
This type can be spread throughout the sites as shown. Parking is to be located in the basements of the larger sites and can be accessed through the courtyards. Altogether, the miscellaneous and difficult parcels within the two blocks become a community, visible and connected to Athens.
