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This speculative project investigates how an overlooked aspect of architecture—plumbing—might become an agent for developing collective living through intentional redundancy and radical reimagining. Kar Ching Charlotte Chan’s UC Berkeley master’s thesis uses plumbing infrastructure as a point of departure and as a base of comparison between two different vertical-housing types: luxury housing, such as 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan, and underserved high-density communities such as Hong Kong’s demolished Kowloon Walled City. The supertall tower is divided into three zones of low, medium, and high water pressure, where various plumbing elements adopt multiple uses. Hot-water risers act as radiators. Cold-water risers are channeled into sprinklers both for fire protection and for watering plants. Studio apartments are arranged around communal bathing areas with cold plunges and onsen-like hot tubs.

Images © Kar Ching Charlotte Chan, click to enlarge.