Frameworks of Encounter
-2025 Studio Project
- Individual Academic Project
- Site: North Bart Station, Berkeley, CA
This studio focuses on creating secure spaces for diverse groups. We argue that permanent supportive housing must transcend mere shelter to become a social vessel—one that safeguards private space while providing communal areas for interaction, thereby empowering residents with genuine choice. The proposed architectural approach avoids prescribing social behavior; instead, it creates the conditions for community to emerge spontaneously. Through the strategic deployment of negative space across multiple scales (urban edge, cluster, and unit), the design cultivates a spectrum of social possibilities, constituting an inward-facing urban space. Within this framework, residents hold the right to choose their level of engagement—from remaining in their private sanctuary to participating in communities of varying scales or the public realm.
-Social Gradients: From Courtyard to Unit-
The architecture organizes itself as a series of clustered volumes, rotated to define an interior world oriented around shared open space. This composition creates a clear transition from the public city to a more protected, community-focused domain. Community is nurtured not as a single entity, but through a gradient of social pockets. At the largest scale, a vibrant central courtyard serves as the primary social condenser. This “inward-facing urban space” encourages informal gathering and chance encounters. At a finer grain, smaller courtyards and recessed volumes create more intimate outdoor space, accommodating quieter, smaller-group interactions. This hierarchy extends into the units themselves, where safeguards private space, allowing residents to engage with community life at their own pace and preference.
-Materiality and Threshold-
The building's exterior is clad in white insulated corrugated steel panels, establishing a clean, rhythmic outer expression. Yellow steel elements are integrated into the facade as dynamic accents. This material language extends into the residential units: the linear balconies provide essential outdoor space, while their integrated planting troughs and exposed downpipe systems transform each balcony into a personal, cultivable micro-natural interface.