a home exploded,

Our project, A Home Exploded, communicates that a home bears identity with what its inhabitants chose to fill it with:  memories, traumas, possessions, people, etc. The same house can be virtually unrecognizable when occupied by different families, as the house merely acts as an empty vessel. A house cannot be a home without its host. 

Our project challenges the traditional exploded axonometric drawing--instead of separating the layers of building materials that make up assemblies (see Morphosis 2-4-6-8 House Parts drawing), our project series explores ways in which memory, identity, and time can be dissected. 

We enter the competition with 4 variations of the same concept. All of them begin with an identical house whose representations vary based on the family who resides in it. 

Each family has their own unique way of portraying themselves. Some are methodical and orderly, others like to shake it up. With that, they all left memoirs to help guide you through their drawings:

"There once was a family who lived in a two-story home in the city of Queens, New York. The owner Maria, lived with her daughter, son, and pet dog. At the age of nineteen, Maria and her husband moved to the United States from Mexico to look for a better life. Working hard to make a name for themselves, Maria got pregnant only a year after their move, and had a son nine years later. Unfortunately, her husband Carlos died shortly after their son was born. Stricken with grief, her family told her to come back home, but Maria wanted her kids to have a better life than she had in Mexico. She knew that her husband would have wanted the same. As the years went on, Maria struggled with finding closure in her husband's passing. She began to indulge in shopping as a means of forgetting, but only bought items that reminded her of her late husband. As her daughter grew up, she saw her mom transform from a strong woman into something unrecognizable.

Unlike her mother, Julianna, the nineteen-year-old daughter, likes things neat and organized. She likes to do things alone and has always been a pretty independent person. Being the oldest sibling, she has to take care of her brother most of the time and holds a lot of responsibility. Although she takes care of her brother she also really enjoys taking care of her house plants. Since she is a minimalist, her room has only a single twin bed with white sheets and a plain white desk. When she is not doing school work, her desk is completely bare and everything is stored in drawers. Her closet only holds one pair of shoes and 7 earth-toned outfits, one for every day of the week. She is the complete opposite of her mother, which is why she struggles to live a comfortable life. Her mother’s clutter and shopping addiction takes over their home, and her and her brother are constantly being pushed away and treated as nuisances. 

Joaquin, the eleven-year-old son, has to act strong since he thinks of himself as a burden since his father died shortly after his birth. He is very close to his sister, Julianna, because she is the most independent and organized person in the house that took care of him growing up. Joaquin is very outgoing in school. He is studious, hardworking, and has a lot of friends that think of him as the life of the party, but deep down, he is just acting strong in front of everyone.

And lastly, the family shares a pet chihuahua named Francisco. This guy especially loves his owner Maria. Whether he is in her arms or napping in her lap, Francisco is always around Maria. He cannot stand anyone else in the house and is very territorial; particularly in the cluttered room he calls home. Even he sometimes needs help from Maria to maneuver his way around the messy house.

Ultimately, the home would be consumed by Maria and her shopping disorder. Julianna and Joaquin grow up and Maria is evicted from the home. 

Until the next definition of home..."