Obscured Typology:
Co-Housing for Older Adults
Pilotis preventing the living area from floods; open plans promoting natural lighting and ventilation; steep gable roofs shedding rainfall and providing shade in the humid heat—these are characteristics found in Southeast Asian domestic architecture where this project is situated. The wisdom imbued in vernacular typology calls to mind the fundamental question of architecture. Conceptually, the design operates within these principles and the desire of “going back to the basic”. However, it also challenges general assumptions allowing architecture to evolve within a unique socio-political context. While the domestic needs may have only changed slightly over time, lifestyles, local beliefs, traditions, and cultural values are ever-shifting. 
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This “Co-Housing” model, a response to increasing aging population, is proposed for adults who prefer to live independently late in their lives; sharing facilities, such as cooking, dining, gardening, and meditating, while establishing lifelong companionship.
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The design synthetically integrates the wisdom of the regional vernacular with the complexity of the social program. The exterior of shaded terraces and the interior are interwoven. The ground level, beneath the living units defined by pilotis on one side and the retaining wall on the other is fully opened to the lake and the garden. Dispersed around the artificial ring-shaped lake, each housing is designed to fully engaged the landscape. Each cluster has neither front nor back, each becomes an object in the landscape. The oblique gables obscure the typology of the traditional gable, allowing them to be perceived from all perspectives.