E-Co Living

Grafting Adaptations onto Existing Buildings and into the city
Guide: Jeanne Gang & Aria Griffin
Team: Bianca Deng & Abhishek Desai                                   

The studio's primary focus is to explore the potential of grafting as a method of adaptive reuse in architecture, considering its environmental and creative aspects. Grafting, a technique derived from natural healing and repair processes, involves connecting separate plant tissues to function as a single plant while preserving their unique genetic and visual characteristics. By taking inspiration from horticultural grafting, the studio aims to apply this concept to architecture at various scales.  Our project within the studio, called E-Co Living, capitalizes on the existing context and conditions to graft a new typology that combines private, semi-private, and public spaces. In response to Cambridge's housing shortage, the project proposes the addition of 60 residential units on top of an existing garage, while repurposing the parking ramps into an urban market. The design of these spaces is based on the original principles of SERT housing, which prioritized elements such as sunlight, forest, and wind.  Overall, the studio seeks to explore the potential of grafting as a means of transforming and repurposing architectural elements, emphasizing its environmental benefits and fostering creativity in architectural design.