YSoA Jim Vlock Building Project

The Jim Vlock Building Project is a design-build studio at Yale. Our team focused on the concept of memories, with the goal to build for three homeless individuals that could house both their physical and pyschological past. A dynamic and spacious layout forms a cascading landscape along with the site, providing each individual with a bedroom, a working station/bar and a generous living room for chilling and hosting guests.

As the dweller enters the unit, the inertia gained by walking down the street is further carried through the sectional qualities of plan and out into the site behind. A system of tiered elements draw the occupant in, establishing a living experience which aspires to embrace at the street and invite in. Our interior offers opportunities to imbue your identity within the space; a series of pull-out shelves reside in a cavity below the bed. One may begin to store the possessions of life in these chambers. And from the bed above, one may survey the extents of their home before slipping into rest for the night, knowing fully the protection of its enclosure and also what may wait beyond.

Critic: Joeb Moore, Amy Lelyveld
Teammates: Kaiwen Zhao, Liang Hu, Ben Thompson, Christine Song, Jiaming Gu