Square One

Rethinking the American Subdivision

2021

PREMISE

The American Subdivision is a largely antiquated 20th Century residential development typology. Most fundamentally, in terms of form and function the subdivision is at a DEAD-END.

We are figuratively at square one in developing a residential community model that is economically equitable, socially just, resilient to climate emergency, and provides the connotations of house and home – safety, security, autonomy.

The American subdivision is divergent in form from largely all other historical types of urban development. It is an urban typology that relies on abundant (usually agricultural) land, assembly line construction methods, cheap fossil fuels and personal transportation. It has perpetuated racial segregation, income inequality, over consumption of natural resources, big box retail distribution, a loss of ecological diversity, and an acceleration of municipal sprawl.

The global disruptions caused by climatic shifts mean that the predictable provisioning of basic needs is an immediate THREAT on every continent. Some underdeveloped nations have always been vulnerable to fluctuations in available resources, and some developed nations have grown complacent about questions of survival, after having largely addressed basic needs through infrastructure, public policy, and distribution systems.