This project is a speculation, not a solution. By proposing a building on land rather than property, it explored what would happen if housing were developed against current understandings of ownership. It imagined a world where a building could respond to existing adjacencies and spill into the surrounding block while using a stewardship-based model of care. As the massing was developed on existing lots around NYCHA, it purposely encroached on the surroundings, opening up the design to imagine what would happen if this building continued to inspire residents on the block to reclaim the land. The unit typologies think of privacy and sharing, determined to create commonality without reducing people’s ability to have their own space. The project concludes with a view into what could happen over the course of 10 years as this process of unstitching scales up.
