The objective of this project is to propose the addition of a new layer of
housing in the typical Post WW II suburban residential context in order to
provide more housing alternatives for today's diverse population. This project
was also an exploration of ways that this new housing could address the
transition of zones from residential to other uses such as commercial,
industrial and agricultural. I chose Richmond as my prototype site for
exploration because I believe it is typical of many suburban communities
throughout North America.
The image in North America of the traditional family of a married couple with
young children with an employed husband and homemaker wife that
characterized the 1950's and 1960's doesn't match today's demographics.
Today other types of family structures account for nearly 79% of the
households created, the fastest-growing household type is the single person
living alone, which comprise 23% of all households and single-parent
families account for 14% (Canada Census Statistics 1991 and projections).
As household composition becomes more diverse I believe architects must
develop new forms to accommodate these changes. The residential landscape
we inhabit today is largely the result of Post WW II prosperity and values. In
the 1950's the single-family house became the standard and bankers,
builders and developers continue to concentrate the bulk of capital resources
of housing on the model of the single family detached house despite the
demographic shifts to new types of households. Today many individuals and
families are experiencing difficulties in finding housing that meets their
particular needs.
The design solutions for the nineties will not work unless they challenge
gender stereotypes glorified in the Post WW II pattern of development. This
pattern of development implemented rigid zoning that separated activities of
public life such as places of wage work from the activities of home life.
Private life and public life, private space and public space are bound together
despite cultural pressures to separate them, I believe even more so today
more with emergence of the home office. In this project I explored ways to
create more flexible forms of housing and much richer and complex sets of
transitional spaces in order to accommodate the activities that are required
to connect private life and public life effectively for today's population.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/7933 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Lacas, Desiree M. K. |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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