This project worked to re-think conventional housing typologies of the Polish Hill area to create housing for a group that values the importance of outdoor spaces and how they shape the way a person goes about their daily life.
The block is split into three sections - public, common, and private. These are then further divided by common areas: in the public space a large plaza that uses the church as a connection to the urban fabric, in the common space, a large viewing point with sheltering spaces as needed, and in the private space front yard/backyard situations that have been common in the Polish Hill area since the 1940s.
A proto-typology was determined early on to create a design flow for the internal space. This created a pattern for the way that sheltered spaces could be used in conjunction with the outdoor spaces so that there is a constant connection to the sky. This forces one’s experience to be a sum of all that has led to this moment, individually and as part of this housing community, rather than one that is just a sum of what happens between four enclosed walls.