ARC3016Y S
Instructor: Carol Moukheiber
Meeting Section: L0113
Tuesday, 2:00pm - 6:00pm; Friday, 2:00pm - 6:00pm

Habitus. (Habitation) is our research theme. More specifically housing that lies at the edge of our changing (habitation) habits. Perhaps no other built form impresses our daily lives as much as the domestic realm. Given the multitude of political, social, economic, environmental and technological factors currently at play, the dwelling – as the concretization of habits -- is mutating. Housing, in its constitution of part to whole is both an intimate domestic space and an infrastructural system; atmospheric and efficient. In its relationship to the urban field, housing constitutes an elemental component of the built environment. Politically the right to housing is critical to the individual’s sense of security, social belonging, or exclusion. From the emergence of privacy in Pompeian villas, to the un-private early multifamily houses, to socialist and modernist experiments, to current collective living models and low cost housing strategies, the studio seeks to tackle a broad spectrum of issues including collective living, affordability, demographic shifts, private/public boundaries, work/live patterns, aging, health, climatic response, interiority, pleasure.

Berytus. (Beirut) is our context. Here are 2 or 3 things I know about the city: It lies at the extreme. It is a poignant magic mirror, a fast forwarded future laying in the present. It is not a livable city under western indices, yet it can be characterized by an unabated devotion to the art of living with its historical investment in carnal pleasures and sociality. With a dysfunctional, corrupt public sector and a thriving unregulated private one, the city constitutes perhaps life at the extreme (end) of capitalism. With its contrasts, the coexistence of disparities -- east/west, ancient/modern, rich/poor, modest/licentious, migrant/citizen, nature/culture -- the city embodies acutely and nakedly our era’s intractable problems: environmental degradation, resource scarcity, and social inequity, but also resiliency, adaptation and social intelligence. It is all here, a concentrated elixir of good, bad and ugly. The studio will investigate ways to operate within that context, suggesting alternative proposals that seek to bypass political stalemates in order to address pressing social and ecological concerns.

Detritus. (Detritus), Prototypes for Invisible Lots is our design project. It tackles the need to unlock housing options in Beirut. While the crisis of housing is a global one, it is especially acute in Beirut where the high cost of real estate is displacing a large portion of the population, destroying critical natural ecologies, and perpetuating substandard living conditions. Underpinning the premise of the studio is an uneven zoning law dictating minimum buildable lots within the city. From a free market perspective, these lots are invisible as they do not conform to the standard developer formula. They lay dormant -- unseen by real estate speculation and deemed worthless. Together these scattered sites constitute a significant area within the city. What if they formed the basis for alternative, and inclusive housing? The studio proposes to expand access to housing, to the city, through the development of experimental housing typologies adapted to these problematic sites. The studio will address affordability through issues of ownership, land value, housing typology, program, infrastructure, and material construction. By working closely with a network of local actors, the studio aims to develop viable prototypes and real-case scenarios.

Looking ahead into the thesis term, there will be multiple threads to take on based on the broad research theme of housing, as well as from the diverse issues that will arise from the specificities of the design project itself, including the context, Beirut.

A parallel studio will be taking place at the faculty of architecture within the American University of Beirut. The studios will rely on online collaborative platforms for dialog and resource sharing. A weeklong trip (optional) to Beirut is planned over reading week (February 18-22). The visit will offer a deeper understanding of site and culture through the engagement of local knowledge (site visits, lectures, etc.). For logistical reasons related to travel, interested students must contact me as soon as possible.