It Doesn't Take Walls

Abstract

The thesis takes the form of a residential house, exploring different ways of separating a space while answering different needs for solitude. It experimented with a diversity of architectural devices designed to demarcate functional units in the house with respect to their varying demands for solitude. Individual spaces are examined based on where they fall on the spectrum: from the most secluded to the most inclusive. Efforts are made to refrain from resorting to full size walls when not necessary. The actual means of separation used for a certain space is usually a balance between the desire for seclusion and the urge to evade walls.

The form of the house unfolds from the order of an overarching cruciform structure, dividing the space into four quadrants, which are further bisected by a horizontal plane producing a total of eight cubic spaces. Each space is shaped with different dimensions suitable to their respective functions assigned, but all fit into a spatial matrix of two-foot spacing points. A featuring cross is brought out and made visible on the roof, plan and each of the four facades.