Desire to Cook

Project Type: Student Accommodation

Theme: This project is based on a persona, whose utmost desire is cooking. He loves cooking alone & with his friends and family. His house would always smell of food and there would be dinner parties almost every weekend.

Objective: Promote home cooking through the design where students can interact, learn and inspire each other through the process of cooking and dining.

Thesis of Cooking:

In a typical house, the kitchen would be the brightest space. Most of us are familiar with the nostalgic atmosphere linked to a kitchen – like the sink placed next to a large window letting in fresh air and sunlight, and simple things like the smell and texture of food. The kitchen is the room where the most amount of movement, interactions and activities happen. It is where you have positive interactions with other people through cooking together, sharing recipes and having everyday conversations.

Anti-thesis of Cooking:

The culture of home cooking has brought people together for generations but as eating out and getting takeout became so effortless, students are now slowly substituting cooking. Having a meal became a secondary activity in their busy schedule. Thus, the importance of eating socially is disappearing. Eating out may cause over-eating and weight gain. It may cause obesity and other health issues. It may be expensive to feed friends and family depending on the ingredients. The whole process of cooking and getting the ingredients may be time-consuming and labour-intensive.

Program

The program for this project is designed to encourage and inspire people to cook and dine together. There are three main programs, which are the communal kitchen, private apartments, and the transitional space. The kitchen is the primary element of the student housing – all the other programs are designed or arranged in correlation to it.

There are 3 types of communal kitchens – general kitchen, dessert kitchen, and outdoor kitchen. Each type involves a different method of cooking and is strategically placed in different locations to encourage more movement and interactions between them.

Transitional space

The transitional space is a Garden alleyway leading to the private apartments and the communal kitchens. It contains vegetable patches all over the site for easy access for the occupants. Harvesting their own vegetables will reduce costs for the students and the sight of fresh ingredients will inspire them to cook. The housing also invites friends and family outside the residence and encourages social interactions between students through cooking and dining.