Individual and Commune: How we balance the private and the collective in communal housing

Abstract

The concept of a home is changing; away from the nuclear family, and towards the free-flowing collective of the commune. This thesis explores, in four parts, the new balance that must be found, between the individual and the commune. Firstly, we examine five architectural precedents. Exploring the architectural intent, use-case, and adaptation of the space, to find commonalities in their successes and failures. Secondly, we define three categories; Private, Protected, and Public; and use them to examine the spatial and relational hierarchy of association that private and public spaces require. Thirdly, combining these associations with the architectural precedents, we distill three communal archetypes: the Egalitarian, Familial, and Neighborly; exploring the hierarchy of association and relation that each creates diagrammatically and relationally. Fourthly, we design and model a commune of our own, combining a familial archetype with a rowhouse; which we explore specially and socially.