Inhabitants Within Threshold (Threshold as Antidote for Urban Density)

The objective of my thesis is to explore and re-define the relationship between threshold and urban density. Threshold is an architectural medium, which divides and bridges spaces with certain meanings. Density is the defining character of the urban condition expressed consistently at different scales: from a city to a block, to a building and to the human habitation. My design project is about an application of threshold in architectural design within the context of urban density. The efficacy of threshold is tested in both external and internal conditions: the existing condition of the site and the internal workings of the program. To test the thesis, a design of a youth hostel in Washington D.C. was undertaken.

The experiment was carried out with the following hypotheses:

1. that threshold is an architectural instrument that mitigates the urban density and 2) that threshold negotiates the territories among the inhabitants.

The design experiment demonstrated the hypotheses and therefore, confirmed the relationship between threshold and urban density.