Having lived in apartments in densely populated cities most of my life, I felt this stark difference between my experiences in India and residing in the United States for the last several years. The silence, hiding neighbors, smiles consumed by KN 95 respirators, deserted ground plane, long narrow corridors, disconnection from the rest of the city, all this prevented me from seeing a home in the apartment I had rented in the United States. Philosopher Lars Svendsen's analysis and understanding of this feeling of perceived disconnection has made me to give it a name – Loneliness.
One may reasonably hold the global pandemic accountable for this feeling. It can be true; the pandemic has forced a lot of us to spend all of our time at home, and be socially distant from other human beings. But surveys and studies suggest that the pandemic has only accelerated this feeling and is not the only causal factor. This thesis explores the widespread feeling of loneliness and how it relates to the design of physical space. As we continue to spend a lot of time at home, I have chosen to rethink the conception of a multifamily residential complex keeping in mind the opportunities architecture can create for people to redefine the space they occupy, connect with neighbors and retain the option of solitude as they choose.
If there is something we think that we never have enough is time. We spend a lot of our time in cars commuting to and from work during the week and to the grocery store over the weekend. In a time when we are slowly moving towards normalcy, if normalcy still is physically going to places, I wanted to take into account some factors to help me identify a suitable site - access to public transportation, walkability, property prices, access to a grocery store, census data on demographics, household income, and car ownership. These factors are considered to motivate residents to interact with the street and provide flexibility for people of different age groups to live together. / Master of Architecture / This thesis explores the feeling of loneliness and how architecture can contribute towards creating better living spaces that can help overcome this feeling. Philosopher Lars Svendsen describes loneliness as "an emotional response to the fact that a person's need for connection to others is not satisfied"¹ My experience of living in apartment complexes for the past several years in India has got me thinking about what is preventing me from seeing a home in the apartment I live in the United States. The disconnection I experienced within the apartment, with neighbors, and the rest of the city has motivated me to investigate this invisible tie between the feeling of loneliness and the design of physical space.
The United States census data and other studies over the years indicate a significant number of the US population living alone, increasing rates of divorce, childlessness, cultural detachment and smaller family size. These indicators exemplify social disconnection or isolation, a causal factor to this feeling of loneliness, as psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad suggests "has a significant and equivalent effect on risk of mortality, which exceeds the risk associated with obesity."² There are many factors that have contributed to this social isolation over the past several years, the most recent one being the global pandemic. As we continue to spend a lot of time at home, I have chosen to rethink the conception of a multifamily residential complex keeping in mind the opportunities architecture can create for people to feel a sense of belonging and community, connect with neighbors and retain the option of solitude as they choose.
I have identified three different personas to help conceive the design of this residential complex. This method has helped me think about the organization of spaces within the unit, interaction with the public realm outside the building, and how this project ties to the rest of the city. The feeling of loneliness may be subjective but this thesis reinforces the fact that architecture can create opportunities to help overcome this feeling through self-reflection and social interaction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/113806 |
| Date | 10 February 2023 |
| Creators | Ramesh, Tavisan |
| Contributors | Architecture, Emmons, Paul F., Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C., Green, Tuwanda Lee |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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