Sorry Not Sorry

This project was a response to a call for submissions by Archinect. The brief challenged designers to consider the current state of contemporary domesticity in conrast to the domesticity that the Case Study Program responded to in the mid-20th century in Southern California. The brief asked designers to create a house for a family type and location of their choosing.

Sorry Not Sorry is an urban infill house that embraces the many ways that media technology is changing private domesticity. The concept explores the intersections of privacy, curated broadcasting of private moments and spaces via social media, Airbnb hosting, and gentrification.

As we look at the current state of domesticity by recalling the history of the Case Study Program, we must also consider the fact that the program was organized, executed, documented and promoted by Arts and Architecture magazine. It was as much a Media project as an architectural project. Or rather, it was an architectural project that recognized the importance of Media images and narrative.

The Sorry Not Sorry house is a house that embraces the many ways that media technology is changing our relationship to the outside world. The house was designed with a family of two aging married artists in mind. These artists moved to Buffalo, New York from New York City in search of a more affordable lifestyle. It is extremely important that the house provides a private meditative space that is rooted in its place, yet also is placeless. These artists pride themselves on being global citizens who are enthusiastically embracing of new ideas.

The house is centered on several key contradictions:

1. Its occupants treasure their privacy, and yet they constantly share ideas and images with the public through their art and through social media.

2. The occupants are both local and global. They care about supporting local businesses while also trolling alibaba.com for new and unusual materials and products. They travel often and invite friends to visit them.

3. While it is important to the occupants that they own a home, they are skeptical of private property, and their economic politics strongly favor wealth redistribution. They frequently rent out part of their home to short-term guests and make it available to visiting family and friends.

4. The owners are deeply uncomfortable with the fact that by moving into an affordable neighborhood, they are gentrifying it. The house is designed to appear as an ubiquitous industrial building. The house embraces banality and seeks to find a lifestyle that does as well.