about ?
cv !   

PROJECTS


Collective Dwelling & Appropriation for Autonomy



April 2022

This is an investigation of the unoccupied space in the BMO tower, 100 King St. west, speculating on what possibilities might exist there for collective dwelling and robust community outside of the confines of capitalist conceptions of property and state sanctioned development.

The central goal of autonomous housing outside of state and capitalist property conceptions is rooted in the idea that housing is a fundamental right of human beings, and that the commodification of housing under capitalism has led to the use-value of housing to be superseded by it’s exchange value as real-estate (1).

The practice of squatting (the illegal occupation of a building) has set a precedent as a viable option for much needed housing and community space, and is a mode of reclaiming the use-value over exchange value. In my research, I examined the processes of European squatting that have taken place in London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin, in the mid to late 20th century, as well examples of informal housing in Caracas (2)(3) . From this I have gathered that the act of squatting is simultaneously an act of rebellion and revolutionary activism as well as a means to procure humane housing and collective space. This project will utilize squatting as a medium to gain access to the tower and appropriate un-used office space with the eventual goal of permanent dwelling space and communal living.

References
(1)       David J. Madden and Peter Marcuse. “Introduction: The Residential Is Political.” In Defense of Housing: The Politics of Crisis, Verso, 2016, pp. 9–12.
(2)     Justin McGuirk. “Caracas: The City Is Frozen Politics.” Radical Cities: Across Latin America in Search of a New Architecture, Verso, 2014, pp. 105–107.
(3)     Alexander Vasudevan . The Autonomous City: A History of Urban Squatting, Verso, New York, 2017.


BMO Tower  site



Siege Tools: images of tools to be used for occupying and building within the tower. 

The drawing above shows a breakdown of the available office space for rent in 100 King St. as of December 2021. This office space is what I am investigating for occupation.

The drawing above illustrates a concept of parasitic expansion, moving through the floors of the building, slowly taking control and establishing community.

The sequence on the left is a preliminary exploration of the process of an autonomous occupation, which in its essence a coordinated and planned squat.

This drawing is an exploration of the what it might mean to bring construction tools into the tower in an insurgent nature. The box appears to just be a large wooden crate, but once deployed it turns into a functional mitre saw table.

The two drawings above are a series of drawings showing the wall assembly of a tower floor and the process of disassembling it.

The drawing above is the paths of 50 occupiers entering the ground floor of the BMO Tower and converging on the central elevator shaft. This is intended to show what 50 people looks like simultaneously entering the building with intent to not leave.

Craving self-determination in function and aesthetic, the residents endeavour on a project of refitting their spaces with windows appropriated from around the city or fabricated in the workshop. They remove the former windows and curtain walls in some cases, and create a mosaic of autonomy.


The model on the left is a sketch of a corner of a tower floor, early in the occupation. Tents and simple textile dividers are deployed, with simply saw-horse tables as work benches and domestic surfaces.

Tents are used as private dwelling, along with open communal sleeping, and a preliminary workshop is established, with material infrastructure beginning to be fabricated and built.

As the tower begins to be more dwelling and commune than office space, the residents decide to make significant augmentations to the structure to better accommodate their growing community. 

Layers of dweller-built structures are shown here, with a mezzanine created by cutting away portions of the floor plate. The effect is a space that accommodates the individual structures and a high-ceiling open domain for socialization, recreation, and direct democracy amongst the residents.

The workshop is the heart of the community. Here, the residents take control of the material needs of themselves and their neighbours. “Found” materials are procured from the streets of the city, and the tower’s window washing apparatus is used to bring materials up to the workshop, with a garage door installed in a removed window unit.

The residents produce what they need, and have the space and infrastructure to pursue creative material endeavours. They collectively own the means of squatting.