Fall 2018, Arch 201 – The Form of Labor

This studio will examine new typologies for hybridizing forms of immaterial labor with spaces of domestic labor. Enshroud in the myth of endless accumulation, wealth, and amenities, the tech industry is also built on forms of exploitation, termed as ‘start-up culture’. The start-up world is a vastly different side of the industry and has produced a series of precarious laborers that shuttle between Bay Area geographies in search of affordable housing. At the same time, the office spaces of immaterial labor are increasingly taking cues from the domestic realm—equipped with living rooms, kitchens, and spaces for leisure—and the adaptive reuse of factory spaces for housing is equally styled as spaces for production. This studio will investigate the spatial negotiation between living and working, between the public and private realm, and between spaces of production and reproduction. In both these realms—living and working—we will consider how the sharing of resources enables productive synergies for start-ups as well as spaces for co-living