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Rome Collective Living Challenge proposal with Jaekyeong Moon, Donghyun Lim, Gwanghyeon Park
Description
In 2018 protesters took to the streets of Rome to rally against resident evictions. After years of housing shortages, rising rental prices, and unemployment, thousands of families and individuals were no longer able to meet their mortgage and rent payments, and many were being forced from their homes. This is just one event that exhibits how Rome, like several capital European cities, has simply become unaffordable.
Software Used
SketchUp 2019, Vray 4.2, Photoshop CC 2019, AutoCAD
Rome Collective Living
Participants were tasked with designing a concept for affordable co-living. Instead of considering ways to construct thousands of new, individual apartments in Rome, this competition focused on housing solutions that might offer both affordability and community.
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Rome is a must see destination in Italy if someone wants to experience the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. It made Rome a world-class tourist city, and tourism has become a major industry. Most popular tourist attractions are concentrated in the downtown, making it convenient for tourists, but for residents, it is becoming a serious problem. Income is concentrated in urban centers, and citizens who used to live in city center are being pushed out of the city or their living conditions are deteriorating due to rising rent prices and concentrating population. We propose a combination of collective living and tourism. Native tenants become hosts and tourists become guests. Rome is very strict in terms of preserving its original architecture, protecting hundreds of years-old buildings without demolition. We realized that there was a dominant building prototype scattered all around Rome. More than one buildings are joined to form a single structure with courtyards in the middle. To respect the context of the city, we propose a system that can utilize this building type transforming them into a ecosystem for both native tenants and tourists. Our proposal Inserts new structures in the courtyard for collective programs such as shared kitchens and lounges where cultural exchanges take place. The interior spaces of the original building is revamped to serve as a living space for both hosts and the guests. In this space, all users interact and live together. Such a system is also applicable to buildings with adequate courtyard throughout the Roman city. It is designed to become a reliable source of income for the hosts creating new jobs and improving their quality of life. At the same time, the tourists will be able to have a immersive experience on the Roman culture with a chance to socialize with the natives and other travelers creating a virtuous cycle between the tourists and the hosts. Rome is a tourist capital of the world. It annually attracts more than 9 million visitors who spend more than 4 billion USD. Ironically, such a rush has made Rome very expensive for locals to live in. Lack of means for business and low employ rate made it more difficult for the citizens of Rome to get a space of their own. We propose a housing scheme based on the most typical building types in Rome, which can be applied city-wide and initiate a virtuous cycle for both the residents of Rome and the tourists in need of accommodation.
System
Program: The programs are divided into four categories; host space, guest space, shared space, and public space. The host and guest spaces are combined (with some minimal shared space) to form a single housing unit. Only the basic private needs such as sleeping and sanitation are fulfilled here. More complex activities such as cooking and reading are performed at the shared spaces located at the center of the courtyard. Ground floor is a public plaza that is accessible to the public allowing the residents and the public interact and share their experiences.
Circulation: There is a public plaza on the ground floor where people can visit and roam freely. Lobby is on the second floor where it connects the two buildings. Two buildings have a ㄷ and ㅁ shaped corridors surrounding the courtyard. The original buildings have their own separate cores as well as the newly built elevators and spiral staircases inside the new structure.
Alteration: Only minimal alterations to the original structure are made during the design project. A few exemplar alterations are (1) widening of windows so that it can function as a doorway between the center structure and the original building, (2) deletion of unnecessary walls that do not bear any significant loads located mainly on the ground floor at the lobby.
Structure: Newly built structures are modular and flexible. It can adapt to various building types and circumstances. This self-standing structure is connected to the building with minimum damage or alteration to the original structure.
Narrative
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