Studio Moments
Studio Moments
Entanglement
How might scaffolded architectural extensions around Hong Kong cage-home blocks recalibrate the relationships between proximity, privacy, and shared life, expanding bed-scale dwellings into a network of vertical and rooftop spaces for dignity, retreat, and collective well-being?
Through observation of our entanglement studies, the relationship between space and body emerged as the most generative, revealing how patterns of inhabitation actively inform architectural conditions. These studies showed that the issue is not simply a lack of space, but the absence of gradation between states of privacy, exposure, and collective life. The condition our project addresses is one of extreme compression, where living is reduced to bed-scale units with little opportunity for transition or retreat.
The most meaningful spatial possibilities began to emerge through our iterations of thresholds. Rather than treating the scaffold as a singular extension, we need to understand it as a sequence of spaces that mediate movement from the interior cage home, to semi-exterior scaffold conditions, and ultimately to the rooftop. This vertical progression produces a range of environments with varying degrees of openness, light, and social interaction, allowing inhabitants to move through different spatial states rather than remain confined to one.
Thus, the most productive relationships that were created are between structural systems, thresholds, and program. The scaffold no longer acts as just structural additions to the building, but as an architectural framework that organizes new forms of inhabitation. Its density, porosity, and layering begin to shape how space is occupied, creating opportunities for both individual retreat and shared activity. The project aims to improve the quality of life for residents without displacing them, working within existing conditions rather than replacing them. It introduces a network of vertical and rooftop spaces that extend domestic life beyond the interior unit, offering dignity, flexibility, and new forms of collective engagement.