Here + Now | 21st Century Home | Farm To Table

Florida Atlantic University, FAU School of Architecture

Project idea

The framework of this project was derived from a previous housing competition by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). The project was meant to challenge students to think beyond the characteristics of the cookie-cutter household most of us live in. To create a home for the 21st-century family entails for us to think outside of the heteronormative view of a family, the gender roles that are set in traditional households, and the idea that everyone lives in home composed of a nuclear family. At Florida Atlantic University the site assigned for the project is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The empty lot assigned is in the neighborhood called Shady Banks between 1612 and 1620 SW 17th Avenue. The site is on a cul-de-sac and has a view of a canal, which can be seen as an advantage but also as a future flood thread. Aspects such as site context, cultural framework, technology, and the environmental response of our designs needed to be researched and studied to develop an idea of what it means to live in a 21st-century home.

Project description

Farm to Table
The idea behind this project is to create a next-generation home, a house that evolves and adapts with the people who live in it. For this assignment, a family of four or more people was meant to be selected in order to create a home where two families could come together in one household. The concept and design of this home were highly driven by the activities the family performs. The family consists of a couple of two women who are cooks and work from home. Their daughter who’s in her late 20’s and planning to move out as soon as her flower shop takes off. The grandfather who is a local community farmer. And an exchange culinary student who comes every 4 months to learn from the cooks and the grandfather. The magic of the household scenario occurs when the mother’s host their monthly private food show for a group of 10. Through the food show, the grandfather gets to help with his daughter's business by providing fresh products off of his at home-grown crops. The family's main goal is to teach the city of Fort Lauderdale that farm to table is the healthiest and best way to get food from. The intent of this design is to adapt the farm to table lifestyle to the family's day to day life.

To start working with the context of the site and the environmental response of the work, historic precedents were taken into consideration. When visiting the site the first thing to notice is the pleasant winds coming from the SW, the bright sun from the South, and the sounds of the canal. As a Floridian, I know how hot summers can be down here and creating a way for natural ventilation was key in creating this design. To maintain the house cool throughout the hot seasons the idea of a dog-trot was introduced. A dogtrot was this style that emerged in the south of the united states around the 19th century to cool the houses down when heat season came in. Along with the dogtrots, louvers were also incorporated in the design to maintain the inside climate pleasant.

As mentioned before the canal in the site can post a threat of flooding that could be devasting to any of the houses in the area. To prevent the house from being in danger of flooding it was elevated 4 ft off the ground. From afar the rectangular interlocking blocks look as if they were floating in stilts like houses in StiltsVille, Florida. StiltsVille consist of a group of wooden houses that are elevated in reinforced concrete stilts over the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay. By utilizing historical and cultural factors that exist in Florida to ground the design of this 21st-century home allows for this household be identified as a true Florida home. A home that can be passed down to generations of families to come, along with the historic aspects embedded in it.

Technical information

Drawings and Information Provided:
-Site plan
-2 Sections
-2 Elevations
-Axonometric View
-Interior Views/Renderings
-Wall section

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