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Enjoy few images from this interesting project. The main reason I decided to post it was the physical models made during the process. Its been a long time since we posted actual models made by students. Although they are not really “study” models as entitled by the author they still super cool.!

• Retrofitting The American Dream
  Student: Artur Nesterenko. Instructor: Berenika Boberska. Woodbury University
•  ”The 2007 market crash forced a relocation of suburban housing into a high-density, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood of the center city and inner suburbs. This created a profound structural shift – a reversal of what took place in the 1950s, when drivable suburbs boomed and flourished as center cities emptied and withered. The fact that the land under the house has no value and the houses are worth less than they would cost to be replaced, creates a big possibility that many fringe suburbs will turn into waste lands, with abandoned houses and a rising crime rate.

  This crash once again gives tremendous opportunity and draws the attention of the architects into the suburbs. It reminds us that we should no longer be worrying about how we are going to design communities in the future, but what we are going to do with the communities that we are left with. Instead of demolishing an abandoned neighborhood, I am proposing to deconstruct and re-purpose the remains of abandoned houses into a new construction tool according to the client’s needs and interests. The idea is to use the fabric of a failed neighborhood as a form work to construct a new type of housing with injected shared spaces and public structures. The rafters of single detached houses, the floor joists, the studs, pipes, details and the house itself with all of the structural elements will be re-used as form work to retrofit the American Dream. 

  I decided to create imaginary clients with different professions that would be interested in buying  abandoned houses to deconstruct and redesign to create new houses according to client needs. “

  Clients:
  Inventor
  Baker
  Astronomer

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