COLLECTIVES STUDIO
2G2/3G5 - ARCH 562 - WINTER 2025
Gabriel Cuéllar


do-it-yourself: Block Co-op


How can a housing co-op animate an urban block?

This studio designed urban and architectural strategies for densifying typical single-family blocks. We explored incremental resident-led development, presenting a vision for transforming suburban blocks into animated, cooperative housing neighborhoods.


Students first designed a densification strategy, in which existing homes would remain within a more active urban structure. They articulated the legal, zoning, and social transformations to make these visions possible.  

Demonstrating adaptability, their architectural prototypes make possible a range of collective living patterns. We relied on bio-based materials and passive comfort techniques to define the construction and operation of the buildings.