Inside + Outside

Abstract

A study of public and private space through human scale architectural elements: Window, Material and Path. The project is an urban infill that is very narrow and long, and incorporates an alley that connects one side of the block to another. The program combines a small restaurant with a home above for the family that owns it. Questions of light and privacy immediately arise, and the thesis begins.

A window is typically a two dimensional object that opens for light and air. Window is a dining room overlooking a garden or a large sill to sit on. Window is not only part of the façade but also breaks through it, bringing small private spaces beyond the building boundaries and defining the interior spaces of the home. Window is also a small skylight facing east, scooping in soft morning light to a bedroom.

The materials of a building are what it is made of: its cladding, waterproofing, walls and floors. Material makes an emotive space through touch and reflection. Concrete is heavy, rough and protective, Concrete is boundary. Contrastingly, Wood is soft, flexible and changing, Wood is home.

An alley is a narrow walkway, an undesirable secondary access point. How can an alley become Path? Path is an invitation to walk and be, Path is not the same from beginning to end. Path belongs to the city, the restaurant, and the pedestrian.

Inside + Outside studies what makes these public and private places at the human scale, and how architecture appeals to intuition rather than definition.