DESA1002 'Continuous City' Craig Johnston

Abstract

The ‘Continuous City’ project began with thorough research of the city, in my case New York, and the social and cultural characteristics it possessed. The brief was to create a single architectural proposal in a complex urban context and in the early stages, I tried to find out what it meant to live in New York. Living in a city of this size can often feel alienating and lonely amongst the hustle and bustle, and the nature of residency in this part of Manhattan reflected this sentiment. After studying precedents of residential buildings in Manhattan, I decided I wanted to create a large family home in the heart of the city that was different to normal apartment living. In New York, space comes at a premium and throughout the city, there exists endless amounts of unutilised space on the rooftops of buildings. This is where the idea of a parasite building arose, where this unwanted space could be exploited. The main concept was to design a structure that could be placed on the roof of an existing building while maintaining a street presence and an address. Issues arose about the structure and how to place the parasite onto existing buildings. Does the parasite leech or use the host buildings’ stairs or elevators? Which direction should it face? Where are the most appealing vistas? I chose to create a fictitious client to whose brief I could adhere. This gave the design direction as I attempted to meet the lifestyle needs of the client. The design evolved throughout the semester with several programs, space configurations and structures, and the final resolution combined facets of all of these. The ‘Manhattan Parasite’ is a three-story home, 120sqm in floor space, containing open entertaining spaces inside and outside that take full advantage of the picturesque metropolis of New York.