[RE]THINKING TALL: Cultivating Socio-Cultural Trends in a West Chelsea Residential High Rise

Abstract

According to the Census Bureau, American society is experiencing a cultural shift in living trends: city living is slowly replacing its suburban counterpart. As a result, there is a growing need for cities to accommodate people of all demographics. Currently, the western-most part of Chelsea located on the lower west side of Manhattan is failing to do this. Since the mid 1990s Chelsea has been a major center of the New York art world; serving as home to hundreds of local art galleries and studios. With the opening of the High Line in 2006 (a successful adaptive re-use project of former rail lines originally built in the 1880s), West Chelsea has experienced an influx of people interested in living in the district. Currently, expensive luxury housing, loft spaces, and converted luxury apartments dominate the West Chelsea housing market. This dearth of housing options has greatly limited people from varying social, cultural and economic backgrounds and circumstances from moving into West Chelsea. This thesis imagines an apartment complex in West Chelsea that offers a variety of compact housing types while fostering a sense of community in order to bring families, singles, and people of all ages, to the vibrant arts community of West Chelsea.