Abstract:
Compact living currently has been shaped to prioritise only the individual. In an increasingly insecure world that constantly seeks security and belonging, the primary focus on individualism in modern society has been complemented with an enduring nostalgia for the idea of community. 1. The vast development of residential structures has created monotonous expanses of building conformity which lack key ingredients for the enhancement of living. Correspondingly, there is a lack of urban unity and less feeling for urban community. 2 This thesis stands on a viewpoint that community is not dependent on a need for belonging based on religion, nationalism, ethnicity, lifestyle, or gender. It is not about belonging in terms of searching for an identity, but rather, belonging in the sense that we all share the common interest of simply living our daily lives, simply dwelling. Therefore, the place of community is understood to be composed of a rich variety of social ties, where those ties are grounded in a shared commitment to dwell in a common space. From this viewpoint, this thesis argues that the development of multi-residential structures today does not allow for the communicative process of community and that it rarely provides a place for social relationships to nurture. This thesis overall proposes a new typology of dwelling for the design and development of an urban village in the outskirts of Auckland Central Business District (CBD). It seeks to redefine dwellings as a microcosm of community architecture and in doing so, challenges the preconceptions of modern dwellings. This is through the investigation of the architectural elements that comprise the idea of dwellings at three different scales: the individual, the collective, and the greater public. Through this, the project explores how architecture can be a medium to support an alternative mode of dwelling that fits within the contemporary context of compact living and increased density. The project aims to suggest that connectivity and the place of community is not restricted to the ground plane. Instead, its qualities and richness can be brought into all planes which is a step towards breaking away from the stigma of living in social isolation that is associated with verticality, density and small spaces.