Project by Brandi Reed and Olivia Van Wersch
Casa Esquina is a housing proposal grounded in an extensive study of Loisaida in New York’s Lower East Side, which examines how cultural practices, spatial form, and grassroots activism have sustained community life over time. The research foregrounds Puerto Rican and Nuyorican traditions, stoop culture, murals, music, communal cooking, and courtyard life, as forms of informal social infrastructure reinforced by density and proximity. It also draws from the 1970s homesteading movement, when residents reclaimed abandoned buildings to create housing, gardens, and collective spaces, demonstrating the power of self-determined urban stewardship. These cultural and activist histories were paired with an analysis of tenement blocks, early NYCHA housing, and global precedents that once centered community within social housing. Casa Esquina responds through five design principles that prioritize shared ground floors, adaptable units, clustered courtyards, and a clear gradient from public to private space. The project reimagines a mega-block as four interconnected neighborhoods, using architecture to support cultural continuity, flexibility, and everyday social life.
