Housing Studio III: Fall 1997 Instructor: Lauretta Vinciarelli The purpose of this studio is that of exploring forms of housing capable of interpreting the vocation of the site and the aspirations of modern dwellers. The project should recognize the unfolding of time and the tension between the permanence of the past and the "new" advocated by the exigencies of modern life. In particular we will focus on the infrastructure and thresholds that mediate between the public realms of the street and the private one of the unit. The "mediating spaces", that have been practically eliminated from current housing, are of crucial importance as answers to the demands of a population varied in ages and needs. An issue that deserves attention today is that of the dwelling as a place of work. It seems likely that, due to the developments of modern technology, a large number of people that now work in offices, in the near future will remain at home, performing through computers. Obviously such change in the mode of work will have consequences in the form of housing that require to be explored. In synthesis the purpose of this studio is that of challenging the dominant reductionism attitude in housing with experimental projects of a high level of complexity, as appropriate responses to the complexity of modern life.