Tags
Elemental Houses
2019
Oyster is located at Eastern Shore Virginia. It is a community of about 30 households. The place is 3-ft above sea level, and considering the constant flooding events and future sea level rise, the community is look for a method of relocation.
There are two scales of design strategies. At the community scale, the earth is excavated following the current topography to form a channel. The excavated earth is the used to build a mound for the community to dwell. The channel and the mound could lower the risk of future flooding and inundation. The town consists of three components: square, street, and alley. The squares are public gathering spaces surrounded by individual dwellings. The streets connect dwellings with their surrounding landscape. The alleys are in between two houses and therefore connect the public sphere of the town with the landscape outside.
The arrangement of houses ensures the privacy of each house, but at the same time connect the private sphere of the house with the public sphere. Each house has two parts: the dwelling part and the garden. There are three types of the dwelling-garden unit: front garden, side garden, and back garden. The arrangement within the unit is depend on the sun path and thus can create variation within the community.
The design strategy of this project can be viewed as a prototype of dwelling – it can be repeated in various places with respect of the particular condition. For me, the design embody my idea of essential, fundamental aspect of living.