Dunamis Synergy
Project Type: Affordable Housing
Date: 2018 Fall
Site: South Providence, Rhode Island
Partner*: Bryant Lui RISD IntAr 19'
Client: West Elmwood Housing
Professor: Elizabeth Debs
*All drawings on this page (except for the exploded axon of the community center from the 2060 proposal) are my original work.
Objective: West Elmwood Housing provided four sites for the students to choose from and develop a proposal for affordable housing for student parents (students who are parents that live with his/her child/children).
Approach: Seeing the potential of a community development with several sites, we decided to team up and use three sites to show three phases of affordable housing in the future - each phase 20 years apart.
Result: One community development strategy with three affordable housing proposals for 3 different time periods in the future: 2020, 2040, and 2060.. As the housing communities arise over time, each model reflects a different lifestyle of the future, while all the sites eventually liven up the community of South Providence as a whole.
Site Strategy
2020 Proposal:
Kitchen-sharing Families
The 2020 proposal will rely on sharing amenities with the neighbouring CCRI campus. Within the units, a shared kitchen encourages bonding between neighbours.
2040 Proposal:
Co-housing Neighbours
2040’s proposal tests out the self-generating village scheme, creating its own resources and amenities while introducing co-housing within close neighbors.
2060 Proposal:
The Future Commune
A self-generating village with the idea of co-housing pushed to the extremes, creating a closely knit community of 600+ people with the surrounding neighborhood.
The existing shell is converted into a community center,fulfilling a wide variety of the residents’ social needs. A train station with rideshare fleet area becomes the mainmode of shared transportation.
Kitchens, dining areas, living rooms, study and working rooms along with other amenities are all shared and public. Enclosed rooms along the atrium allow for more intimate and private gatherings.
Concept sketches for 2060 proposal
2060 Site planning and massing
2060 Residential Complex Massing
The dining bridge connects the two sides of the atrium and the 3 floor levels. The ramps made it accessible,while creating a flowing transition between the differentlevels in the complex. This is a bridge of the community, where people connect and interact. It is the heart of the 2060 commune proposal.
