DIAMOND | DWELLER | DIMENSION

This project is a collection of thoughts on coordinating the pursuit of formal language variation and the concern of creating accessible space within a given form. I was using Diamond House by John Hejduk as a reference, which gives a model with column supported free plans and only vertical comparisons. Based on accessible concern, the formal transformation removed levels, recreated major elements and migrated minor elements into a single floor volume, in which elements are allocated from most public to most private sequentially by 4 different bands, with each band having its own identity, functions and formal language. I studied from the specific codes of ADA Standards, specifically the passage clearances, the kitchen maneuvering requirements, the door and alcove clearance and accessible bathroom. With code compliance in mind, I tried to organize the project with a quality of “different spatial features also ensuring accessibility in distinctive ways”.

While the documentary drawings are taking graphic reference to the paper draft style of Hejduk, I also referred to Chris Ware’s cartoon-like vignettes as a way experientially showing how disabled, caretakers and their family use and occupy different parts, which is done by grasping some moments of life and interaction of inhabitants and visualizing those views in perspectives. With these vignettes, the project can be presented as not only to technically solve accessibility issues, but also to contain those moments where the spatial arrangement and treatment inside a space are providing inhabitants a better residential experience.