Resume
e_dharmaputra@sciarc.edu
At Ease.
At Ease proposes an adaptive housing framework for veterans within the historic West Los Angeles VA Campus. Rather than fixed units, the project uses reconfigurable elements; curtains, movable walls, and layered thresholds, to allow spaces to expand, contract, and shift over time. Communal life is embedded within circulation through shared terraces and softened edges, turning daily movement into social infrastructure. By prioritizing flexibility and resident agency, At Ease frames housing as a supportive environment that can evolve alongside its occupants.
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Beginning with the 5-foot ADA turning radius, a 20×20 grid was organized and mirrored to form paired units, becoming both a constraint and a rhythm. Using this grid, spaces were carved with arcs, introducing curvature as circulation and enclosure. Inspired by Lilly Reich and Petra Blaisse, curtains act as impermanent partitions, while a pivoting wall along the shared centerline allows two homes to merge or separate.
The unit allows residents to decide not only how to live, but how much to share.
As the arcs and radii scaled up, they carved the building into three distinct masses, with seams of air and light forming soft thresholds between them. A central circulation spine organizes the volumes, complemented by a secondary staff circulation. Within each mass, the same radius governs unit layout and extends into curtained terraces that allow residents to modulate openness and privacy.
STUDY MODELS
1. MASSING MODEL
2. CHUNK STUDY MODEL OF BUILDING 207 ON WEST LA VA CAMPUS
3. MASSING MODEL DISASSEMBLED
4. ‘DUMB DEVICE’ 5FT FABRIC SCALE BAR
5. MASSING MODEL
6. CHUNK STUDY MODEL
7. CHUNK MODEL [A SUMMARY OF CONDITIONS THAT EXIST ACROSS BUILDING AS A WHOLE]
8. SITE MODEL
9. ELEVATION CHUNK MODEL
10. ‘DUMB DEVICE’ IN BUILDING 207 USED AS A SCALE FOR MODELING