Inside Out / Outside In explores gentle suburban densification through the creation of collective hybrids—blending cooperative ownership, live-work arrangements, and flexible indoor-outdoor typologies. Anchored in a co-operative model, these hybrids promote adaptable, community-centered, and long-term affordable housing solutions. True to its title, Inside Out / Outside In addresses both spatial and organizational dynamics. Spatially, it rethinks the boundaries between interior and exterior environments. Conceptually, it draws from business common business strategies: “inside-out” approaches focus on leveraging internal capacities, while “outside-in” strategies prioritize responsiveness to user needs. In a cooperative setup—where members are simultaneously owners, producers, and users—these models converge. The result is a hybrid approach that simultaneously draws from collective strengths and serves shared needs. This hybridity operates on multiple levels throughout the project. Typologically, it proposes a coherent yet modular large-scale intervention that breaks down into neighborhood-scaled components—varying in massing and material expression and integrating local and reused building elements. Programmatically, it interweaves residential units with business and maker spaces, fostering a cooperative hub for co-creation, entrepreneurship, and mutual support. Set in post-fire Altadena, the project not only introduces new and denser forms of housing to support recovery, but reimagines the suburban landscape as a regenerative, self-governed hybrid. It envisions a tightly interlaced network of shared indoor and outdoor environments, enabling collective living and working within a resilient and sustainable community structure.
INSIDE OUT / OUTSIDE IN: Collective Hybrids for Densified Suburban Dwelling
