Familiarity (Student co-housing and farming)

image from the ground public courtyard showing the elevated farming bridges and shading

Project theme:

Loneliness is a feeling and a state of mind a huge amount of people tend to experience in different ways and different times of their lives. A lot of people do not take mental health as seriously as physical well being but little do they know that one’s mental health plays a major role in their physical well-being. When an individual is feeling lonely, it does not just stop there. Loneliness brings a few other things into the equation. Loneliness causes anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression both come with a good number of physical symptoms like weakness, heart palpitations, sweating, loss of appetite, decreased memory and heart problems etc… Dubai is a very well known city and a hotspot for tourists coming from all over the world. This city is very safe, financially well off, and very vibrant, so it happens to attract people who want to stay there for the long run or at least work/study there.

The UAE is known to be a transient country. What does transient mean? It means people are coming to work or study there for a few years before they have to go back to their own countries. In this case the UAE acts as a temporary home. Moving and leaving your home can cause a huge impact on your mental health. Moving results in a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety and last but not least, experiencing loneliness after moving to an unfamiliar place is not very farfetched.

In the year 2020, a pandemic started that forced everyone in this entire planet to lock themselves up in isolation as a way to control the pandemic. No one was allowed to go out unless it was necessary or an emergency. A lot of mental issues and awareness towards those issues arose. People had to find different ways to combat loneliness for example farming.

Farming is an activity for everyone, it can be done as a group activity and as a solo activity. Farming has been proven to be very beneficial to both mental and physical health. Mental and physical health are both linked, one can ruin the other. Farming is a way to insure both of them are doing well. How is farming a stress reliever? Farming can turn into a family activity bringing family members closer. It also forces you to spend time outside between nature which eases stress just by being looked at. It is a good way to keep the hands and the mind busy resulting in a feeling of relaxation. This plant growing activity results forms connection, interaction and creativity. It is a great way for people to have something to look forward to and a great way to learn responsibility in the right manner.

How did architects connect people together within a building? Architecture is very manipulative. The design makes you go wherever the designer wants and makes you feel whatever the designer wants you to feel. So how did architects create interactions? Architects used strategies such as leaving room for unplanned activities, creating common rooms and creating web like floor plans that result in people cross paths. But is that enough to create a community and a family? Co-housing is a living typology that basically joins everyone living in separate houses together. This type of housing creates community because of the way it provides spaces for shared activities, shared facilities and spaces. People in those facilities tend to befriend each other and benefit from one another. This is a great way to combat loneliness.

Concept and diagrams:

The concept was developed after studying the site and surroundings. The basic mass was raised from the ground with a courtyard in the center. A huge step like chunk of the mass was subtracted in order to create openings and spaces for light allowance, room for more activities, room for more farming and room to walk. Central courtyard consists of bridges, ramps and staircases for a more elevated farming. This makes the farming more private than it would be on the lower public floor and at the same time those bridges create a shaded courtyard that makes it easier for people to walk or cross the site with protection from the sun. The mass was developed in a way that encourages path crossing and visual communication resulting in tackling isolation.