Liam Hoy
Domesticated Vernaculars
From second-year graduate studio Three Houses in One
Faculty: Penelope Dean, Grant Gibson
About the studio:
In this comprehensive housing studio, we reframed the concept of minimalism as a question of liveability: that is, a livable minimum over existenzminimum. We asked how a tiny home (less than 1,000 square feet) might offer dignified and comfortable modes of inhabitation in excess of providing for mere “existence.” Putting the rituals and possessions of inhabitants at the center, we explored minimum in all its multitudes: minimum possessions, minimum space, minimum materials, minimum structures, minimum gardens—an excess minimum. We analyzed contemporary Japanese precedents, each selected for their tinyness and compactness, with the understanding that minimalism is generalizable. We then collectively reimagined Chicago’s three-flat type as “Three Houses in One” on vacant, city-owned Chicago lots.
About the project:
This project reimagines the possibilities of collective inhabitation through the domestication and stacking of three conventional building typologies: The multipurpose Quonset hut, The American diner, and the open office plan. The Quonset huts accommodate sleeping, bathing, and lounging. The Diner is for cooking and eating, and the office is for working in its many forms. Three houses are reconfigured into two shared single spaces above ground and very small compact private spaces below an undulating landscape. The project offers maximum privacy and maximum publicness simultaneously.
Winner of the 2022 Swanke, Hayden, Connell, Ltd. Award for an oustanding second-year graduate project