Competition · 2019 · Paris
Modular homes that clip onto the streets of Paris: a shortlisted entry for the Paris Affordable Housing Challenge.
A speculative urban proposal for the Paris Affordable Housing Challenge: flexible, modular housing units that clip onto the existing streets of Paris, with a system of services that gives something back to the city. Developed with Miloš Nikolić and Alejandro Cruz Nacher.
Coalesce Paris
1 to grow together
2 to arise from the combination of distinct elements
The proposal
A set of complying, affordable, sustainable and flexible modular housing units, together with a system of services that these new typologies commit to the city.
Because the houses are modular, the project is conceived not to be site-specific but context-adaptive. The masterplan is an attempt at a coherent transformation of the metropolis: not striving for the permanence of monuments, but activating the urban fabric for its residents and letting its architecture adapt to changing situations.
The city of light is treated as a beautified urban canvas that can be reconfigured with a grid of inserted systems, Grid X, laid over the existing Haussmannian grid. The Clip-Maison and its services become functional elements of the urban fabric that bring the painting of Paris to life, rather than being mere parasitical housing.
To cope with the pull of the city centre, the proposal is stitched into the city and shows its flexibility of extension within its built system. Grid X dissolves its own utopian project to make multiple dialogues with its context, raising a rational discussion about co-existence.
Two units
Utilising potential corners
The existing grid leaves a good lot of space around the corners of many buildings. Stretching outwards by 1.25 metres on each side, MyCorner houses intrude subtly onto the street to complete the chamfered edges back into their formal extension. The arrangement makes way for a variety of houses for different user groups.
Space-saver solution
The wide, long streets of Paris allow bridges between existing buildings to which a MySide unit clips on. Spanning 8 to 15 metres, the bridges leave open spaces so streets stay well lit by day, and give light and shade at night. Openings on both sides of the housing units allow natural cross ventilation.
The masterplan
The developer
The project imagines its own developer, AKM Paris, with a website and an online catalogue: pick a plan, pick a finish, and apply for your unit.
Les Clip-Maison pour Paris
A futuristic option for affordable, green and dynamic housing for a constantly evolving Paris. We look forward to a near future where the units are individually accessible and smartly populate the centre of the city, easing the shortage of homes. The grand scheme of Coalesce Paris puts forward a discussion on using our technological advances for co-existence in the city.
Recognition
Paris Affordable Housing Challenge, Affordable Housing Series #7, organised by Buildner, 2019.