The Intergenerational Commons 住宅 by Yi Lu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award 銅賞 in 建築・建物・構造物デザイン Competition Category.
銅建築· 2026
The Intergenerational Commons 住宅
by Yi Lu
Client: Yi Lu
A' Design Award 銅賞 Winner in 建築 Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #182604The Design
About The Intergenerational Commons 住宅
この住宅リノベーションプロジェクトは、スタイヴェサント・タウンを多世代居住のための現代的モデルとして再定義するものである。アダプティブリユースを通じて、老朽化したスーパーブロックは重層的な住環境のエコシステムへと生まれ変わる。再生された低層基壇部にはシニア世代の学びと日常的な交流の場が組み込まれ、屋上の幼稚園は世代同士を身近な距離で再びつなぐ。テラスと庭園が硬質な輪郭を和らげ、高密度を社会的インフラへと転換し、これからの都市生活に向けたレジリエントなパラダイムを打ち立てている。
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award 銅賞
The Intergenerational Commons 住宅は、創造性、独創性、鋭い洞察力で際立つ傑出したデザインに授与される、高い権威をもつ評価である A' Design Award 銅賞の受賞作品です。銅賞の受賞作品は、十分に巧みで印象的なほど創造的な工芸品であり、デザイナーの豊富な経験、想像力、機知を裏づけています。The Intergenerational Commons 住宅は、高く評価され、称賛され、愛される品であり、顕著にプロフェッショナルで革新的であることが期待されます。この A' Design Award 銅賞を受賞したデザインは、芸術・科学・デザイン・技術のベストプラクティスを取り入れており、細部への配慮に優れています。The Intergenerational Commons 住宅は、ニーズを見事に満たし、欲求に触れ、感情を魅了し、好奇心を引きつけます。
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Memento (the Intergenerational Commons) redefines Stuyvesant Town as a contemporary model for intergenerational housing. Through adaptive reuse, the aging superblock becomes a layered residential ecosystem. A revitalized podium integrates senior learning and daily exchange, while rooftop kindergartens reconnect generations in close proximity. Terraces and gardens soften rigid edges, transforming density into social infrastructure and establishing a resilient paradigm for future urban living.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Primary structure: steel frame with brick infill façade; residential use retained for approx. 75–85% of floor area.
Public conversion zones: ground-level 1,200 m² community hub + stacked shared terraces (3,600 mm depth).
Modular additions: 3,600 mm bays; lightweight steel framing; reversible connections; green roof system 300 mm. - Tags
- Affordable housing retrofit, residential transformation, adaptive reuse, vertical commons, community spine, aging-friendly housing, intergenerational support, low-disruption renovation, scalable urban model
- Production Technology
- The project preserves the majority of the building as housing while surgically converting select zones into shared social infrastructure. Using a low-disruption retrofit strategy—steel reinforcement, reversible insertions, bolt-on terraces, and prefabricated community modules—the design creates continuous vertical and horizontal commons within the existing brick shell. A standardized kit-of-parts system ensures cost control, phased construction, and replicability for aging urban housing stock.
- Design Challenge
- The key challenge was transforming an aging residential structure without undermining its primary housing function. Structural constraints, code compliance, budget limits, and resident continuity required precision. The design had to introduce meaningful public space through minimal intervention—balancing density, safety, affordability, and social impact within an existing steel-and-brick framework.
- Research
- Type of Research: Applied design research.
Research Objectives: Develop a scalable model for renewing aging residential buildings through limited yet high-impact spatial conversion.
Methodology: Adaptive reuse, program layering, and vertical/horizontal commons integration.
Data/Tools: Demographic aging data, precedent analysis, BIM coordination, daylight, and circulation simulations.
Participants: Multi-generational residential case studies.
Results: Increased shared access and daily proximity.
Insights/Impacts: Strengthens intergenerational support networks and offers a replicable pathway for affordable urban housing renewal. - Inspiration
- The project was inspired by the growing social fragmentation within high-density housing and the increasing generational separation in contemporary cities. Research on social isolation, aging populations, and child development informed the proposal. The design explores adaptive reuse as a strategy to transform postwar housing into a resilient, layered residential ecosystem that integrates care, learning, and daily life within close spatial proximity.
- Project Duration
- The project concept was initiated in September 2020 and concluded in January 2022 in New York City, United States. The design proposes a phased, low-cost renewal strategy that maintains residential occupancy while selectively converting underused areas into shared community infrastructure.
- Operation Flow
- Residents continue everyday living in their homes, while new commons support shared routines. A horizontal community spine activates ground-level life; a vertical network of stairs, lifts, and terraces connects floors into one continuous social landscape. Seniors and children occupy overlapping yet flexible zones, enabling natural encounters and informal care. Interaction remains optional, preserving privacy while strengthening mutual support.
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Yi Lu, 2022.
- Team Members
- Yi Lu
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Architectural Rendering Yi Lu, Memento: The Intergenerational Commons, 2022.
Image #2: Architectural Rendering Yi Lu, Memento: The Intergenerational Commons, 2022.
Image #3: Architectural Rendering Yi Lu, Memento: The Intergenerational Commons, 2022.
Image #4: Architectural Rendering Yi Lu, Memento: The Intergenerational Commons, 2022.
Image #5: Architectural Rendering Yi Lu, Memento: The Intergenerational Commons, 2022.
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