The "GAP"

Report of living problems nowadays and our solutions
Keywords: Gap (4.2*4.2*3.0)*3.5

Nowadays, following the development of industry and economy, following the wide usage of computers and intellectual traffic, and following the augmentation of consumption and population, our habitation changed. The living situation of human beings becomes much more compact both in small areas like living units (apartments and dormitories), living groups (group housing and living blocks), and in larger areas like living areas in cities.

After making researches of living conditions in China, we concluded that the problems brought by the above changes were mainly in three aspects. Firstly, the economical "gap" between normal families and the real estate. That is, although the real estate offers abundance of housing for the public, most families (especially those young families) cannot afford houses, which may fit for them. So the solution should be offering cheaper but high quality styles of housing. Secondly, the "gap" between demanding housing space and the total housing space in existence. That is, if we remain the capacity of traditional houses, then the housing space in a city would be not enough. Therefore, what architects should do emergent is to increase the capacity of housing. Thirdly, the "gap" between demanding outdoor space and the shortage of natural space. Nowadays, many architects are trying to solve this problem by designing ecological housing. But it still remains a problem that how to create safe and reasonable outdoor space for children.

Since "home" plays such an important role in every child's everyday life---It offers environments and chances for every kind of activity, education and communication. These housing problems certainly affect the growth of children. That means, they need more private spaces, more outdoor spaces and more communication chances.

As to the architecture design, the difficulty is not only to solve some of the main problems that we mentioned above, but because the three aspects are being related to each other, to deal with them as a whole would be more rational and effective.

Our solution in this design is to put some "GAPS" in the living volume. And the "gap" would perform as communication space, children's green land, outdoor space and transportation space. Further more, these gaps can deliver the sunshine and fresh air to the inside of the living volume.

Based on the results of our research --- the private space, outdoor space and communication space needed by children. We designed the "gap" as an integrative function part:

First of all, the function for the "private space". we designed a two-stage children's room. The first stage is a connection to the family, and the second stage is a connection to the public. And between the "family" and "public", are their private spaces --- this follows the same rule in the real world. In detail, the first stage is normal---like every child's room nowadays---one bed and one desk. But the second stage, which leads to the "green land", is a small studio for their discoveries and imaginations.

Secondly, the function for the "outdoor space". We created a semi-covered space as a "green land" for children to have kinds of outdoor activities and at the same time, they would have a feeling of safety. And because this space is not totally indoor and is at least 3 meters high (some places are 12 meters high), it is sufficient for planting. From their studio, children can have a good view of the outside "green land" and they can enter it as well.

Last but not the least, the function for the "communication space". Nowadays, one family in China is permitted to have just one child, and the disadvantages brought by this policy become more and more serious in today's China. For example, children lack the capacity and the will to communicate. They spent more time in the Internet, and cannot work in-group, and so on.

And we found in the research that people in the modern society do not used to neighbor-visiting any more. So the communication mostly happened in the transportation space---the stairs and elevators. Here in the design, we made the "gap" the transportation space as well. Then, the "gap" becomes a vertical "street"---just as a traditional communication space both for adults and children.

As to the construction of the house, we decided to use "modulus" to make the construction more convenient and effective. Furthermore, considered the development of industry, we found in our research that the prefabrication should be more and more widely used in future architectural constructions---because "speed" plays such a concernful role in our everyday life. And "modulus" would certainly necessary in this process.

The "modulus" we adopted was 4.2*4.2*3.0. Every family unit is 3.5*(module). And every living unit (six levels with the "gap") is a combination of 16 family units. Therefore, what we need to prefabricate is just the box of family unit.

And the way of distribution we planned is first, build one living unit, then, ask people who want to buy to choose a certain family unit (it would avoid the problems happened in China---choose one home from a map but finally the house is not what they imagined). Then, put the family units together. Another advantage of the combination is that it is endless---it just growth with a certain rule---And this is another aspect of our design---a growing gap.