This housing project is intended to serve individuals estranged from the traditional family structures, this includes but is not limited to: children, single parents, recently-widowed spouses, and elders. Through the shared living framework implemented in our design, the exchange of care and support among residents becomes the foundation of everyday life. In its entirety, the project would eliminate barriers to socialization for young single parents by creating a playful housing community that connects them to one another and to the older generation.

The project engages with the inherent culture of food, music, and storytelling embedded in Harlem’s history. Historically, block parties and impromptu gatherings around food, music, and play, livened the surrounding streets of our site. Shared living operates as a facilitator towards the idea of non-blood related familial relationships. Shared social spaces exist at every other level of the building, and are cradled by a network of suite-like private units. The design offers a spectrum of implied and literal enclosure. Through addressing everyday life, specifically the range of privacy, socialization, and accessibility to air and conditioned space, we produced a model for an intergenerational shared living experience. By rethinking spatial organization, we can create co-living spaces that do not sacrifice privacy but rather enhance it through shared amenities.