The Intergenerational Commons 주요 기능: 주거용 by Yi Lu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award 동상 in 건축, 건물 및 구조물 디자인 Competition Category.
동건축· 2026
The Intergenerational Commons 주요 기능: 주거용
by Yi Lu
Client: Yi Lu
A' Design Award 동상 Winner in 건축 Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #182604The Design
About The Intergenerational Commons 주요 기능: 주거용
이 주거 리노베이션 프로젝트는 스타이베선트 타운을 세대 간 주거를 위한 현대적 모델로 재정의합니다. 적응적 재사용을 통해 노후화된 슈퍼블록은 층위적인 주거 생태계로 거듭납니다. 활성화된 포디움은 노년층의 학습과 일상적 교류를 통합하며, 옥상 유치원은 가까운 거리에서 세대를 다시 연결합니다. 테라스와 정원은 경직된 경계를 부드럽게 완화하여 밀도를 사회적 인프라로 전환하고, 미래 도시 생활을 위한 회복력 있는 패러다임을 확립합니다.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award 동상
The Intergenerational Commons 주요 기능: 주거용, 이 작품은 A' Design Award 동상 수상작으로, 창의성, 독창성, 영민함으로 돋보이는 뛰어난 디자인에 수여되는 높은 권위의 인정입니다. 동상 수상작은 충분히 숙련되고 인상적으로 창의적인 작품으로, 디자이너의 폭넓은 경험, 상상력, 기지를 입증합니다. The Intergenerational Commons 주요 기능: 주거용, 이 작품은 높이 평가받고 감탄과 사랑을 받는 사물로서 두드러지게 전문적이고 혁신적일 것으로 기대됩니다. 이 동상 수상 디자인은 예술, 과학, 디자인, 기술의 모범 사례를 담고 있으며 세부에 대한 주의로 훌륭합니다. The Intergenerational Commons 주요 기능: 주거용, 이 작품은 필요를 훌륭하게 충족하고 욕망에 닿으며 감정을 매료하고 호기심을 불러일으킵니다.
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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