Spatializing Ambient Intimacy

Normative apartment living creates an isolated subject; neighbors are physically proximate but socially distant. We compensate with social media, where, sharing information about ourselves and receiving information about others, we remain isolated. While developers increasingly market apartment buildings with "complimentary" services and common areas as social platforms for their residents, in reality, the spaces designated for collective activities are inconvenient, impoverished, and rarely used.

 

The Social Penetration Theory by Irwin Altman suggests we develop relationships, gradually, in waves of reciprocity. Spatializing Ambient Intimacy layers these interactions into the plan of an apartment building. Rather than creating a definitive line between private and collective space, the project creates a series of layered thresholds between private and public space, both within and between dwelling units, that allows the residents to unfold and develop relationships over time.