A NEW TEXAN TYPOLOGY
Spring 2019
Instructor: Jesús Vassallo
Houston’s development is dominated by quick-and-easy, bang-for-your-buck development. The standard typologies are ubiquitous. The Texas Donut, the Townhouse Pack, the Garden Apartment, and the Tower in the Park are the go-to typologies for developers. Not only do their generic qualities leave little improvement for quality of life through design, but the densities of the mega-sized Texas Donut and the Townhome pack are relatively small. This project questions: how can Houston densify affordably without replicating typical development strategies in the city? Referencing incremental housing seen in the modern housing project PREVI in Lima, Peru, this project proposes a variable unit type that expands and contracts over time as the family composition changes.
Spring 2019
Instructor: Jesús Vassallo
Houston’s development is dominated by quick-and-easy, bang-for-your-buck development. The standard typologies are ubiquitous. The Texas Donut, the Townhouse Pack, the Garden Apartment, and the Tower in the Park are the go-to typologies for developers. Not only do their generic qualities leave little improvement for quality of life through design, but the densities of the mega-sized Texas Donut and the Townhome pack are relatively small. This project questions: how can Houston densify affordably without replicating typical development strategies in the city? Referencing incremental housing seen in the modern housing project PREVI in Lima, Peru, this project proposes a variable unit type that expands and contracts over time as the family composition changes.
