ARC3015YF
Fall 2024 Option Studio
Instructor: Johanna Hurme
Meeting Section: L0107
Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., 2:00-6:00 p.m.

CONTEXT 

Multi-family housing is arguably the one area of architecture that has the most impact on the lives of ordinary people going about their everyday lives. With increasing rate of urbanization and need for densification of cities – particularly in second and third cities – the number of residential units passing across an architect’s desk is unprecedented. The platform:MIDDLE studio will focus on the missing middle, multi-family housing in its many forms and ownership models, from refugee and social housing to market rate condominiums. As a result of the typology’s inherent repetition, and potentially banal programme—as well as the private sector’s pursuit of profit at the expense of quality and livability—the margin in which architecture can operate is incredibly narrow.

OBJECTIVE 

The studio will aim to develop the students’ skill set in dealing with the realities of the architectural production today and the profession’s interdependence on economic and political forces. This multi-faceted challenge is not limited to positioning projects in current discourse, skillful form making, technical achievement, or environmental sustainability. It also examines how thoughtful design can be employed to satisfy the project’s financial proforma, concern for making good spaces for people both in and outside of the building program; weaving the project into the existing city fabric; striking the right partnerships; operating in political and financial realities; and meeting the challenge of affordability.

SITE 

The project is situated in downtown Winnipeg MB, and the site is the same for the entire studio. Through class assignments, the students are expected to familiarize themselves with local zoning by-laws applicable to the building site and to establish allowable zoning ‘envelope’, FAR [floor area ratio], any required setbacks from property lines and the public lane. Other considerations include on-site parking, public space and amenity/landscape requirements.  

PROGRAM 

The project program consists of a mixed-use and mixed tenure housing development with some commercial/retail/community space and a strong focus on urban integration and consideration of spaces in-between. Particular program components and their respective sizes will be determined as a result of class assignments and instruction that will help the students understand relationship of land + development costs relative to program components and overall project scope of work – so called program proforma.