Tom Soldiviero
D.C. Alley Life
Front-of House Obsessions
The series of homes built around the edge of the
Washington D.C. city block were oriented to face the
street, creating a rather uniform cohesive edge. From
there, the home owners built as wide as possible,
shouldering up between neighboring properties to
eliminate side yards (generally speaking). The back
of house follows very little rules. It appears individual
property owners satisfied their need for adequate
square footage and did not build out to a united edge.
Thus, a ‘barnacle’ condition was created; buildings of
different lengths latch on the street edge, uninterested in
back of house appearance.
yet completely segregated whole. From above, the
collective resembles an apartment building with a
courtyard in the center. Yet, it is a series of individual
dwellings, disguised as a whole.
Residential units in Copenhagen- uniform interior walls.
The Washington D.C. courtyard would not serve a social
function. Neighbors would meet each other in their
own homes, having plenty of room to accommodate
and host a large amount of people.
Organic growth and layering of barnacles creating non-uniformity.
City Block out of Scale
The Washington D.C. city block ‘barnacle’ condition
suggests an apartment typology. The gravitation
towards the street edge creates a left over space in the
center of the block- the beginnings of the courtyard.
While the courtyard allows for light to reach the center
of the block and ventilate the building, it also doubles
as a meeting place for residents of the block. Courtyard
becomes living room.
The typical D.C. housing unit is the row house- a
stacked home usually inhabited by families. Each unit
marches along, packing together to form a dense,
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The proportion of the Washington D.C. city block is off.
It is too big for the residential typology, yet too small
to subdivide again, forming additional formal streets.
Instead, the alleyway is created. The remainder of space
in the center of the block is just enough square footage
for service buildings to be located- The undesirable
structures are in the alleyways.
Mutated courtyard- Washington, D.C.
Barcelona
Individual buildings on the block obey the urban pattern
of a unified back-of-house edge. The entire block is
perceived as a single ring with a shard space. This
square grid utilizes its ‘leftover’ space through shared
outdoor space. The block is its own micro community.
Rome
The idea of an uniform rear edge is even more present.
To maximize the amount of buildable space, secondary
bars branch off the outer ring and form multiple
courtyard spaces.
Copenhagen
A single monolithic structure. The design of an entire city
block eliminates much of the flaws of its predecessors.
‘Leftover’ space can be utilized to its maximum potential.
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