On our site visit, we immersed ourselves in the neighborhood’s unique character and documented the neighborhood vernacular. We concluded that the context is built up with humble materials that become more expressive when people take them over. We then realized that when people inhabit a space, change is the most extraordinary part of living. This is what we call a recalibration of life: spaces that deal with the expansions and compressions that follow people’s life cycles.

In our design, living is centralized around the permanent functions of the building: the core, bathroom, and kitchen. However, the more adaptable spaces and walls are located on the perimeter of the core. These walls are adaptable, as they can be easily opened up to merge two adjoining spaces, either creating larger 1-bedroom units or combining two studio units. The perimeter is the place where expression happens, a space that hosts looser amenities such as the living room, dining room, bedroom, and a continuous balcony. It allows for all units on the same floor to be connected, allowing for more neighborly connections and a broader sense of community.

The form is borrowing from the vernacular of the existing buildings to situate the building more within its context; as the exterior is rediscovering the ordinary through the vernacular, the interior is rediscovering itself through its inhabitants.