Growing Equality
Proposed Social Housing Project
The State of Inequality
The word ‘inequality’ often invokes images of luxury lifestyles of the ultra-rich, or stark conditions of sprawling slums. Our minds immediately jump to extremes, but inequality should not be thought of as a distinction between the haves and have nots. But rather, the haves, the have mores, and the have lesses. Just like many other so called ‘dichotomies’, inequality is merely a continuum and not the mutually exclusive subsets that the label suggests.
Adaptable Housing
The first obstacle is the supply and demand of housing in the area, to ensure that prices stay affordable for everyone there needs to be sufficient housing units provided. Secondly, the housing stock needs to be adaptable to allow expansion and contraction as the needs of the residents arise. That is to say the design must accommodate for different family sizes and give room for future DIY expansion, or the opportunity to rent or sell a portion without significantly affecting the necessary functions of a standard housing unit. Thirdly, the design must add value to the resident’s condition with surrounding programs and amenities in order to activate the area.
Ownership
One of the most important aspects of successful social housing is the sense of ownership and individuality. Even if the residents do not own the property, it is paramount to instil a feeling of pride in their dwelling and surroundings. To that end, the units will have a varied colour scheme such that each individual unit is easy to identify. Additionally, local artists will be employed to work with small amenities within the site, such as the aforementioned market stalls. This creates a sprinkling of mini public artworks, reiterating the sense of ownership and invoking respect for the area to insulate against vandalism.
Design studio taken during Semester 2 of First Year, Master of Architecture (Prof.) at the University of Auckland. The studio project concerns research and development regarding the chosen aspects of the issue of inequality. "Growing Equality looks at the social housing situation in Auckland and in particular, Glen Innes. this area is under threat of gentrification and the project explored solutions with which to buffer the current residents against the effects of housing and wealth inequality by providing them with options to adapt their housing footprint as required while ensuring that community is a well looked after aspect of daily life.