This week we are celebrating the work of Tomi Akinyemi, a recent Part II graduate. Prior to completing the Masters degree at Technische Universiteit Delft, Tomi studied at the University of Brighton obtaining her Part I degree. Tomi has had varied experience as a Part I Architectural Assistant, having worked at two practices; CG Architects and PDP in London gaining strong work experience. Outside of practice Tomi is active within the architecture industry, being president of TUDASA (TU Delft’s African student’s Association). Further from this, more recently she has been the moderator and organiser of BK Talks: Raising Awareness Dissecting Diversity in Design, as well as being on the panel of another BK Talks: A New World Order Urbanisation in Africa.
Away from education and work Tomi enjoys discussing current affairs regarding the world of design. As a minority in architecture being both a woman and black, Tomi feels it is important to design a more inclusive environment. These interests lie in the mundane and everyday activities of life and explore the role architecture plays within this context. Tomi's aspirations lie in designing different parts of the city that respond to the various needs of the different stories and people found in a city. With that said, we hope you enjoy Tomi's thesis project shown below.
| The Working Home
| Project Overview
The Working Home project seeks to create a social housing residential neighbourhood that affords opportunities for financial betterment through the use of integrated workspaces.
The Working Home proposes a strategy that uses a largely disused building in the form of a shopping centre and proposes a social housing scheme that interrogates the relationship between live and work circumstances within a single residence. The project endeavours to create an architectural solution that takes a step towards meeting the need for more representative housing of society’s current challenges.
| Project Aim
Under the theme of reuse, the project’s masterplan uses the retention of a few key features as a basis for design. These include the structure and roof of the shopping centre (referred to as the slab) which is currently an underutilised carpark, the existing atrium and the existing ramps which provide access to adjacent streets. The residential scheme comprises of a nursery, residential properties ranging between studio flats and 3-bed units, as well as complimentary workspaces. By providing a variety of living and working amenities, the proposal creates a neighbourhood that can easily contribute and plug into the existing urban context.
For more information on the research undertaken, please visit; http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a65223e7-ddb7-43df-a574-235494f987e0
