Summer Hofford
Condensed House for Expanded Living
From the second-year graduate studio Three Houses in One, Fall 2019
Faculty: Penelope Dean and Grant Gibson
About the studio:
In this comprehensive housing studio, we reframed the concept of minimalism as a question of liveability: that is, a livable minimum over existenzminimum. We asked how a tiny home (less than 1,000 square feet) might offer dignified and comfortable modes of inhabitation in excess of providing for mere “existence.” We directed this question toward collectively reimagining Chicago’s “three-flat” typology on vacant, city-owned Chicago lots.
About the project:
Minimal living compacts all functions that are necessary to basic survival (sleeping, eating, bathing) in as small and efficient a space as possible, in order to allow generous space in both plan and section for socializing, creating, and all other “auxiliary” activities. This way of living is formalized in the architecture through a compacted core that is vertically stacked and repeated through all three units.