Typologies_living-working | Master Thesis Project by Vasiliki Bakavou

Master Thesis by Vasiliki Bakavou supervised by Kostis Panigiris for the INSTEAD Masters of the University of Thessaly
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Διπλωματική εργασία της Βασιλικής Μπάκαβου υπό την επίβλεψη του Κωστή Πανηγύρη για το μεταπτυχιακό πρόγραμμα INSTEAD του Παν. Θεσσαλίας

Due to the evolution of technology, which brought the concept of working from home, flexibility on working hours, great reduction of the necessary working space and easier transmutation of any space to a workplace, the traditional notion of ‘home’ gets radically altered. It is transforming from a detached shelter to a versatile, adjustable space. In such a system the limit between the private (to live) and the public (to work) sphere becomes increasingly blurry, causing them to co-exist in several occasions.

The addition of an extra room (working space) in the house (living space) is not sufficient for the merge of the private and public in one unit, since home is a complicated system of human psychological aspects, the natural environment and the social changes. A comprehensive remodeling is required. The live/work typology contradicts existing conceptions of home and private life, private and public space, leading to emerging typologies and ‘hybrid’ interpretations of the notion of home. Consequently, the goal of this project is to explore possible transformations of the domestic space when the working parameter penetrates the home.

Seven professions stand as starting points for new units while each unit attempts to incorporate a generalized program so as to have a broader reference. Firstly, the translation of the main attribute of each profession to space, and then, its generalization to a broader type that accommodates more than one profession, is attempted through a seemingly ‘simplistic’ description.

Eventually, each one of the seven units is based on the following concepts:
i) observation – a farmer, who needs to oversee the fields and to observe the changes on the weather conditions
ii) isolation – a drummer, who needs sound isolation in order to be able to work from home
iii) organization – a manufacturer of artifacts, who needs space for storage of materials and simultaneously a showcase for the products
iv) collaboration – a cook who needs a desktop for the food preparation and a surface to share food
v) free plan – a yoga teacher who needs an ‘’ infinite ‘’ surface for moving and doing exercises
vi) congregation – a teacher who needs a gathering space for the students
vii) separation – a physiotherapist who needs the element of water, apart from the main workplace, as a tool for working from home

Finally, except of the obvious idea that these units could exist autonomously in different locations all over the world, this project attempts to provide a solution for its location in the urban fabric. In this light, the idea of the parasitic growth of these units in unkempt, derelict places inside an urban web (such as rooftops, inside the empty buildings, pilotis and arcades, uncovered plots or between the existing buildings) is examined. The units appear as urban pests in the city, while the selected positions vary depending on the requirements of each unit. In a future imaginary scenario, even if the buildings of the city collapse, these units could create a new urban type but in vertical development –memory of the current type of Greek polykatoikia – creating new urban conditions arising from the relationship between them.

– edited text provided by the author of the project, Vasiliki Bakavou

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