Spatial and Domestic Liminality: Navigating Urban Terrain and the Multigenerational Household

Abstract

Spatial and Domestic Liminality explores potential connections between residual space and multigenerational housing, an understudied dwelling typology. This thesis posits that a stronger understanding of residual spaces leads to their acceptance into the urban fabric and collective psyche, despite the logistical difficulties they present, and similarly that multigenerational households are worth their economic and social benefits to the city. To investigate these propositions, the thesis proposes multigenerational housing design that connects fragmented spaces and public stairways along a steep, undeveloped ridge in North Beacon Hill, Seattle.