In Habit
Parisa Mard, Yunzhi Ou (website)
University of Michigan, Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning
Faculty:
2014
IN•HABIT is a housing design project that teases boundaries and invites vibrancy to everyday living in Los Angeles
Inspired by informal markets in Lagos, Nigeria, this housing project aims to bring the vibrant and versatile qualities to Los Angeles, where food trucks enliven the ground-level open market.
On stilts, the four buildings above provide 3-bedroom units as well as 1-bedroom units.
Pedestrian medians at different widths, sun and shade, movable furniture, vegetation, traffic, and columns create a variegated environment for the ground-level open market.
In both unit types, the idea of flexibility is carried out through room boundaries, which separate or merge spaces depending on resident use at different times of the day.
When the folding doors are closed, a unit’s entry floor has four singular spaces. With the folding doors open, however, rooms on either side can expand into the center space.
Façades are designed to correspond to activities below. For instance, balconies face each other to surround gathering atmospheres.
Meanwhile, corridor façades coincide with travel and movement on the ground level.