4th year project
Architectural Association School of Architecture
2018-2019
Tutor: Lucy Styles + Simon Taylor + Oana Stanescu + Virgil Abloh
Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
Bruce Lee
In 2019, the biggest taxi company in the world, Uber, owns no cars; the biggest accommodation company, Airbnb, owns no property.
We have entered the age of re-definition, or in-definition;
The combination of smart-phone technology, the flexible and untethered nature of work, the sharing economy, and the rise of nomadic lifestyle is redefining the archaic approach we have over home, work, and ownership. The pre-defined social boundaries are being questioned and open for reinterpretation.
And as the society enters the age of fluidity, so is our lifestyle.
Thus give birth to Liquid city: a new living environment that harnesses the modern transient lifestyle, and reflects the human mental realities: the constant flow, interaction, exchange, convergence, and divergence between the individual and collective.
The architecture is stripped to the absolute essential, composed of fixed framework and mutable thresholds, with essential services distributing across the entire system. Thus resulting in an incredible freedom, allowing one to inhabit the space however one wants, as the inhabitants’ preferences of using the space changes, so does the space, both are inter-dependently revolving endlessly in synchronized manner.
The built environment harnesses our mental realities, and our ways of living shapes the urban environment.
We have entered the age of re-definition, or in-definition;
The combination of smart-phone technology, the flexible and untethered nature of work, the sharing economy, and the rise of nomadic lifestyle is redefining the archaic approach we have over home, work, and ownership. The pre-defined social boundaries are being questioned and open for reinterpretation.
And as the society enters the age of fluidity, so is our lifestyle.
Thus give birth to Liquid city: a new living environment that harnesses the modern transient lifestyle, and reflects the human mental realities: the constant flow, interaction, exchange, convergence, and divergence between the individual and collective.
The architecture is stripped to the absolute essential, composed of fixed framework and mutable thresholds, with essential services distributing across the entire system. Thus resulting in an incredible freedom, allowing one to inhabit the space however one wants, as the inhabitants’ preferences of using the space changes, so does the space, both are inter-dependently revolving endlessly in synchronized manner.
The built environment harnesses our mental realities, and our ways of living shapes the urban environment.
CHAPTER 1 PURE PLAY
The project takes interested in the spontaneous quality of pure play and how it relates to the urban environment.
In this instant, the tape mark on the ground is the threshold to the magic circle of play, and the pattern of hopscotch is the framework of the game, transforming the street infrastructure into a playground.
Together the framework and mutable threshold construct the liquid inhabitation between reality and the magic circle of play.
CHAPTER 1 PURE PLAY
This model is a reflection of the current society.
By opening up the space through sequence of thresholds,
We can and approach ownership in an alternative way by co-inhabitation.
We can and approach ownership in an alternative way by co-inhabitation.
CHAPTER 1 PURE PLAY
To propose a new framework for this liquid inhabitation,
This metric draws out the composition of the framework.
This metric draws out the composition of the framework.
The metric is derived from a homogeneous grid, the basic unit exists in two scales in order to create minimum hierarchy:
measures in the scale of a living room (7*7m) and in the scale of a room (3.5*3.5m).
And arranged in a composition that allows for multidirectional access,
with each larger unit acquiring 8 accesses & smaller unit with 4 accesses.
measures in the scale of a living room (7*7m) and in the scale of a room (3.5*3.5m).
And arranged in a composition that allows for multidirectional access,
with each larger unit acquiring 8 accesses & smaller unit with 4 accesses.
