Design Studio: Housing Works
Housing Works is a New York City based nonprofitorganization that fights the battles of AIDSand homelessness. The headquarters is located on the corner of Crosby Street and Houston. Theproject was created from the musical analysis of the song “Music for 18 Musicians” by StevenReich. From my study, what inspired me about this song was the use of Pulses, a technique thatSteven Reich created during his musical career to emphasize the beat in his music. The piece isbased on a cycle of eleven (pulses). Each small piece of the music is based on each chord, andthe piece returns to the original cycle at the end. The pulse plays a significant role within “Musicfor 18 Musicians” where it determines the tempo for each instrument being played, as well as arepeating series of identical yet distinct, periodic, short duration stimuli perceived as points intime. With the use of my musical analysis study, I wanted to derive my design from this study inorder to create this project. The project is a multifunctional building that consists of offices,clinics, event areas, a bookstore, cafe and also storage. The project would entirely be constructedwith Eastern White Pine. The use of this wooden material allows it to be easy to work with and ithas sustainable characteristics. The main idea about this building is to help out the communityand bring awareness of Housing Works and create a significant result. The use of light andopenness as well as green spaces allow for airflow as well as interesting viewpoints which aim tobe therapeutic to the potential occupant of this space. Several points of connection betweenlevels allow for the constant relation and fluidity of the space, creating awareness of allsurrounding areas and as a result this would prevent the feeling of seclusion, which I feel is animportant factor in the subject and purpose for this particular building.
Parsons, The New School for Design, Spring 2016