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French 2D completes Boston co-housing complex grounded in community connections

2023-12-19T12:02:00-05:00

Boston-based French 2D has completed a 45,000-square-foot collective housing complex in Malden, on the outskirts of Boston. Named Bay State Commons Cohousing, the thirty-unit scheme was conceived as a collaboration with residents “through a participatory design process emphasized mutual support and the central values of consolidating and sharing resources from land and energy to cars and material goods.”

Image credit: nkubota

The scheme’s form is defined by a series of stacked, interlocking units, ranging from micro-studios to three-bedroom homes. Half of the units and common spaces overlook an interior courtyard and lawn, with exterior spaces at every level encouraging spontaneous interactions among residents.

Image credit: nkubota

“Rather than being about surveillance, these connections create reciprocity across multiple places for gardening, chatting, playing, reading, or lounging,” the team explains. “Many of the community’s older resident...

The Power of the Facade: French 2D explains how facades are punctuations on the urban landscape

2019-05-24T19:03:00-04:00

What's in a facade? For those outside the architecture and design profession, the function, importance, and commonality facades play in the built environment might not be so clear. But the exterior wall, or "face" of a building, in fact, plays a crucial role in conveying a building's structural design as well as the artistic intentions of the designer.

Because the look of facades has dramatically changed over time to become more sleek and streamlined, thanks to material exploration and advances in building technology, it's easy to forget the amount of detail, and intention that goes into design.

New York by Gehry. Image courtesy of New York by Gehry

Tara Theatre designed by Aedas. Image by Philip Vile

Despite this trend, especially within bustling urban landscapes, facades create opportunities for buildings to be loud, imposing, simple, or decorative. Regardless of their visual intention, however, facades also have the power to prompt the general public to look and notice the built...