Houses for Dorchester

Abstract

The intent of this thesis is to develop a design for thirty units of housing responding to the development objectives of the Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation (NCDC) in the Upham Corner district of Dorchester. It is about controlling variety and encouraging interaction within a context in which requirements for low cost dwellings prevail. It declares that through an explicit separation of parts, and calculated provision of excess capacity, a living environment will unfold in which form and process are united in a way that makes variety and choice more efficient, structures participation and encourages decentralized independent action through time. The form of this environment is first presented through drawings and text. A discussion of the meaning of variety, control and levels in form and process leads to a reinterpretation of the design. With this new understanding, two models of form and process based on varying patterns of control will be used to explore the development and evolution of the site during its life-stages of design, building, use and transformation.