2023, Fall Quarter, 5 weeks, UCLA
Located in Pessac, France, Neighbor is an addition to Le Corbusier’s La Cite Fruges, a planned development filled with social housing. I approach this project as an opportunity for infill densification rather than addition, focusing on the void instead of the existing structures. The insertion of Neighbor in La Cite Fruges is a superimposition of infill typology in an area that functions following the Tower in the Park concept. Infill density is the DNA of cities such as Tokyo. As the byproduct of expensive property prices, high taxes, large populations, and land scarcity, infill density design seeks to maximize every inch of potential space. This form of design raises questions of the relationship between public and private and what it means to have autonomy in infill urbanism.
Programs: Rhino, Illustrator, Photoshop
While developing Neighbor, I referenced the philosophies of SANAA. When Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa speak of their projects, they talk about an “architecture that is one with the environment”. To them, this can only be achieved by thinking of interior and exterior as a single entity, blended together, existing on a continuum. Considering densities and transparencies in an urge to rethink the boundary between architecture and environment. Blending does not mean disappearing - even something that protrudes from the landscape is at one with its environment. Neighbor is shaped by the desire to integrate interior and exterior through visual connection and seeks to find the balance between harmonizing with Corbusier’s vision for Pessac without becoming submerged in it.
Neighbor is constructed using insulated steel plates. Steel allows for an abstract expression that conceals construction, is absolutely rigid, and allows for a thin wall assembly. An aerogel-based insulation system provides comfort while encouraging the Japanese modality of energy conservation: where rooms are heated or cooled only if you occupy them. The use of aerogel insulation and steel plate walls embodies the desire to explore the limitations and possibilities of materiality. The wall assembly consists of a steel plate, aerogel insulation, and the finish surface drywall. The insulation includes two rigid 9mm magnesium oxide boards which function as support for the flexible aerogel insulation blanket. The insulation, drywall, and steel plate are adhered using a hybrid polymer construction-strength adhesive. The entire wall assembly is 9.3cm thick, or about 3.5”.
In contrast to the technical resolution of Neighbor, the surreal quality of my images are intended to exaggerate the abstracted personality of painted steel as a material. Technology disappears in the face of mood: vitality, lightheartedness, and joy. Infill density has the potential to bring with it human connectedness, a strong sense of kinship, and a different understanding of what community can mean. A curated placement of vegetation presents pleasant views for inhabitants, provides privacy from neighboring homes, and acts as natural insulation against solar thermal energy. By necessitating and encouraging time spent outdoors, inhabitants will experience a greater quality of life. There is a direct correlation between exposure to nature and an improvement in physical wellness. Neighbor is a compelling and vibrant addition to Corbusier’s design for Pessac. It harmonizes with its surroundings without being consumed by them, and is an introduction of infill typology and an exploration of material capability.
