Tuesday, March 24, 2015 5:00 pm
-
5:00 pm
EDT (GMT -04:00)
Of
the
thesis
entitled: Living
beyond
Subsistence
Abstract:
The
residential
tower
is
the
setting
for
various
manifestations
of
domestic
environments.
Every
unit
consists
of
a
particular
narrative
of
an
individual
within
the
larger
collective.
Yet
this
crucial
microcosm
that
links
architecture
and
society
is
frequently
disregarded
as
“housing”
-
stripped
of
the
notion
of
home.
The
contemporary
treatment
of
domestic
space
as
“housing”
reduces
it
to
series
numerical
exercises
of
square
footage
and
abstract
values
favourable
for
marketability
to
the
general
population.
In
an
age
where
housing
is
considered
a
commodity,
social
housing
is
overlooked
as
an
assignment
whose
sole
aim
is
to
satisfy
basic
socio-demographic
needs.
As
architects,
we
have
yet
to
see
through
the
lack
to
encompass
the
notion
of
home
in
social
housing.
The
idea
of
home
is
familiar
to
all.
Simultaneously,
it
resists
objective
categorization
because
home
is
experienced
as
a
subjective
sense
of
space
unbound
by
hegemonic
conditions
and
facticity.
Veiled
by
the
appearance
of
lack,
the
complex
and
multidimensional
notion
of
home
and
neighbourhood
that
defines
the
quality
of
space
is
not
fully
explored
in
the
design
process
of
affordable
tower
residences.
This
form
of
minimal
space
derived
from
a
single
notion
of
home
causes
stagnation
in
the
lives
of
residents
-
hindering
the
imagination
of
reality
that
is
shaped
by
the
way
one
relates
to
the
idea
of
self
in
their
space
and
time.
Far
from
being
a
desirable
place
to
live,
the
low-income
residential
towers
in
St.
James
Town
render
an
overarching
monotony
to
the
everyday
life
of
their
many
residents.
Here,
life,
in
all
its
living
manifestations,
is
simply
a
problem
to
be
solved.
The
design
fails
to
apprehend
the
underlying
cause
of
social
instability
that
led
residents
to
their
current
state.
To
influence
residents
beyond
simply
providing
solutions
for
their
basic
needs,
the
design
of
their
homes
should
embrace
the
desire
for
living.
Home
is
not
a
mere
space
of
sustenance;
it
is
a
place
of
living
far
beyond
subsistence.
This
thesis
re-imagines
the
singular
idea
of
home
as
functional
space
in
a
low-income
tower
context.
The
idea
of
home
will
be
introduced
as
a
multidimensional
living
space
that
embraces
various
levels
of
social
exchange
to
provide
for
collective
empowerment.
The
renovation
designed
here
proposes
to
break
and
deregulate
the
common
idea
of
the
lifestyles
of
low-income
tower
residents
through
interpolating
a
mediating
social
space
between
the
existing
scenes
of
solidly
private
and
public
spaces
in
the
chosen
apartment
site
at
200
Wellesley
Street
East,
Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada.
The examining committee is as follows:
Supervisor:
Committee Members:
Adrian Blackwell, University of Waterloo
Elizabeth
English,University
of
Waterloo
Marie-Paule
Macdonald, University
of
Waterloo
External Reader:
Annabel Vaughan, publicLAB RESEARCH + DESIGN
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Tuesday
March
24,
2015
5:00PM
Architecture
Loft
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.