The clothesline represents a site where labor, class, gender, scheduling, and communal life intersect. Laundry as a domestic practice has long been hidden from public view, relegated to basements or back rooms. Yet, laundry spaces can create opportunities for positive friction, offering one of the few settings where neighbors interact meaningfully. This project brings laundry into focus, centering washing and drying as both domestic and shared activities through the “lobby-mat,” a space where washers, dryers, and folding tables exist alongside benches, mailboxes, and circulation routes.
Windows feature built-in racks and covers, allowing residents to control the exposure of their intimate garments while maintaining functionality and design cohesion. Clotheslines connecting units across buildings embody the duality of fostering community and individuality in everyday practices. Byproducts of laundry, such as heat and greywater, are reused: heat is redirected to a timber-framed sauna, offering residents a 20-minute sweat session during two dryer cycles, and greywater is collected beneath the lobby-mat for reuse in washes or irrigation.
Drawing from Harlem’s brownstone typology, the project maintains its scale and rhythm while reorganizing spaces to prioritize laundry, light, and outdoor space. Five separate buildings scattered across the site are tied together through clotheslines and the outdoor space between them. By making washing and drying visible, laundry transforms from a hidden chore into a celebrated and connecting part of daily life.
