Pneumatic Pnomad
The New American Suburb
2007
Greenhills, Ohio
Residential
Unbuilt Concept
Greenhills was a pioneer of American suburbanism. It was intended as an escape from 1930s Depression-era urban life in nearby Cincinnati, and was seen as a temporary solution for a transitioning society, centered around new technologies and modes of living, namely, the car and the highway. The town is now in need of modernization, but the community’s Historic Preservation Society and the Development Council have been in a deadlock over a way forward. We were invited to explore the town, its history, and its significance today, and to bring innovative new ideas to be displayed at a gallery exhibition in the center of town.
The Pneumatic Pnomadic Housing Project is a light-hearted visualization of a more transferable architecture, meant to provoke the exhibit viewers to reevaluate the original intentions of their community and to consider what a similar response would look like in today’s society.
The expandable structure can be transported in the back of a car from job to job, reflecting a more contemporary ‘digital nomadism’ and gig economy, which have replaced the salaryman lifestyle of the American mid-century. The form infiltrates the urban landscape and has the capacity to increase density, shaping itself around the existing urban fabric in post-industrial zones.
This project was presented at a special exhibition at the Greenhills Community Center, alongside other works that proposed a wide range of diverse concepts.