Redefining Domesticity: A Collective Housing Project for Single Mothers

A labyrinth is a sacred space for inward reflection and contemplation. In a similar way, the environments people create for themselves offer a place for connection to their beliefs, values, and cultural backgrounds. A person's identity is based heavily on their sense of belonging to a place, and architecture establishes the place for this connection. Life's journey is enhanced through the experience of sacred paths and places in architecture.

Architecture contributes to the connection between self and spirit that allows personal growth and reconnection with the soul through a direct experience of individual sacred paths and places

Collective Housing produces economic, practical, and social advantages for those involved. For single-mothers, it offers the feelings of control and security. As an affordable housing option, collective communities allow women to improve their economic situation. Collective housing encourages community support for the entire family through the sharing of household duties. By altering normal domestic responsibilities, women are allowed to focus on creating a sense of individual wholeness through the discovery of a self-identity.

The collective housing community will be located two miles east of Downtown Dallas, Texas. Specifically, the site is located on the northwest corner of Ross Avenue and North Prairie Avenue. The site is located next to the Dallas Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). The east side of Downtown is currently undergoing a revitalization that is bringing homes and businesses back to the area.