SLOW WATER
Housing for Single Parenting
WINNER OF THE 2019 Buell Center Paris Prize
GSAPP Fall 2019: Acceleration Studio
Instructor: Daisy Ames
Team: Angela Sun
Tools and Fabrication: Rhinoceros, Illustrator, Photoshop, FormLab 3D Print, Prusa 3D Print, laser cutting
Project Description
“Flooding is a big issue in this area. You see a little bubble, and then a bigger bubble. I had to break the wall in my bathroom, and that’s how I got housing to come and fix things. You have to go to extreme measures to get housing to come. You have to go to the extreme to get any kind of attention.”
”Plumbing is disgusting and old, stripped away, and rusted. When housing comes they break down the pipes and that creates an even bigger problem.”
“There are more kids than adults here, but there’s really nothing here for them. It’s not meant for kids to be here. There is nothing to do after school, no sports, clubs, or playgrounds.”
Considering the amount of water needed for the amenities, we created a water system that will harvest water that will sustainably provide potable and non-potable water to the tenants. This water system is divided into three strata, taking advantage of gravity:
The first stratum is the rainwater collection system, which treats and stores water.
The second stratum is the fixed wet band running through the units, which provides potable and non-potable water.
The third stratum is the greenhouse, which houses our "living machine," a self-sufficient system that purifies wastewater.
The first level of treatment mimics NYC's water delivery system on a micro-scale. Rainwater travels through a water quality treatment, a UV treatment, and a pH level treatment that results in potable water.
The second level treatment is the "living machine" that mimics rivers and wetlands' natural purification process. Part natural, part artificial, the system relies on a series of basins, each forming a specific ecosystem, connected by pipes and containing hundreds of symbiotic plant and animal species.
The plans follow our wet fixed band, where water fixtures are located, allowing flexibility for the rest of the unit. This allows different configurations to create various relationships between the units. Since the building supports single parents, we decided to have the kitchen and laundry room shared. This way, chores can be more efficient when shared among tenants. This aggregation also has its relationships that could even expand to a large family living in the whole space.
With high double-height ceilings and tall glazed windows, the baths are modeled after the program of sentos and onsens. The space provides different water experiences: for example, different temperatures of baths that mothers and their kids are welcome into the space to unwind and relax, and share company, responsibility, and conversation. The baths use waffle slabs, shear walls, and thicker slabs to support the program.
The program at the ground is a direct extension of the rest of the building. This provides infrastructure and resources to not only people who live in the apartment complex but to the whole community. It lifts at the ground, bisecting the ground floor from north to south, providing transparency. The program at the ground contains a private pool, after-school program space connected to the documentary center and public daycare, public OB-GYN and pediatric clinics, and a public greenhouse that houses our “Living Machine,” making it visible and educational to the rest of the community.