Life, Living, & Space

Abstract

The thesis is an attempt to define and design a house by utilizing modernized construction technologies.

From a single cell, a man grows up into a complex creature with an independent life. A livable space for a person starts from the mother's womb, then moves on to a crib, a full-size bed, a room, and finally a house. We can say, therefore, "a living room" originates from an independent life and is created for a person.

Man cannot and does not live alone. Human interactions help develop the spatial relationship among rooms in a house, and among houses in a community. Social relations, such as those found among family, friends and neighbors, define the mental and physical dimensions as they are manifested in the demarcations of rooms, halls and houses. Sadly, modernization seems to have destroyed the human basis for spatial relations, as we no longer can find these attributes in contemporary designs where elevators and stairs have replaced alleys and backyards where neighborhood children once played and housewives enjoyed socializing.

Industrialized processes have allowed us to build more space more quickly, but, unfortunately, these processes have also simultaneously equalized qualities in housing design today.

Because of the potential complexity of these questions, I am compelled to focus on a room or a house as the scope of the study. The aim of the thesis is therefore the study of the development of a socially and technically responsive house in the face of growth and change in an industrialized world.

In Part One, I shall start with an analysis of historical precedents and the development of a working concept for the design. Part Two ponders how to use minimum materials and sizes to create maximum spaces and capacity. The final section includes the demonstration of the design process involved in the creation of a future-oriented house.