Intergenerational Living

The idea of interlocking generations is applied to the building shape and program. “L” shaped volumes are interlocked to create voids which serve as communal outdoor spaces for the inhabitants. Apartment units interlock in order to accommodate various housing options for both the young and old generations.

Communal spaces include both interior and exterior spaces. The concept of vertical living is introduced in the amenities of the housing model. “Home” and “neighborhood” amenities are placed on the North and East sides of the building respectively. “Home” amenities include rooms typically found in a home and imagines these rooms as large communal spaces for the entire building population. On the other side of the building are “neighborhood” amenities in which neighborhood establishments are taken from the street and placed in the building for both tenants and the neighborhood-at-large to enjoy. Workshops spaces and an after-school center provide space for tenants to volunteer their time and knowledge.

The layered activities, through the clusters of individual units and the varied amenities provide opportunities to learn, grow and age as a community. This housing model not only imagines the interlocking of generations, but also of interior and exterior, individual and communal, as wells as private and public spaces.


Master in Architecture at the Spitzer School of Architecture // Spring 2017 // In collaboration with Gavi Wilcox

Retirement homes are spaces of alienation and housing options which allow one to age in place are hard to come by. Interlocking imagines a housing model in which the younger and older generations live side by side, mutually benefiting from each other’s teachings, expertise and simple 
presence.