Courtyard housing is a distinct medium-density multi-family housing typology centered on a shared outdoor open space or garden and surrounded by one or two stories of apartment units typically only accessed by courtyard from the street (and not by an interior corridor). Courtyard housing developed independently in many cultures around the world as a response to particular local needs and economic and social factors.
The courtyard housing typology in the US was developed in the Los Angeles area in the 1920s by several small-scale developers in response to the region's climate and housing needs, and typically adopted a Mediterranean or Spanish Colonial architectural style. The courtyards would be quiet and shaded outdoor spaces that served as a transition between the street and the individual apartment units, and were primarily aesthetic and non-recreational in nature. In the years following, the typology was implemented across the United States until around the time of World War II, when the automobile became more dominant in daily life and had more of an impact on the built environment; newer housing typologies were developed in response to it, such as the dingbat.
In recent years the Courtyard Housing typology has re-emerged following the publication of the book Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles by Roger Sherwood, James Tice and Stefanos Polyzoides, as well as to suit a contemporary need for a housing typology with a density level between that of a single- or double-family house and that of a traditional higher density apartment building. In 2007, the City of Portland Planning Bureau held a design competition for new designs based on the courtyard housing model for new infill housing in existing neighborhoods.
While courtyards have been a part of buildings for millennia, "courtyard housing" in this sense does not refer merely to any housing structure with a courtyard.
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. It is used as a residential, office building, or other functions including hotel, retail, or with multiple purposes combined. Residential high-rise buildings are also known in some varieties of English, such as British English, as tower blocks and may be referred to as MDUs, standing for multi-dwelling units. A very tall high-rise building is referred to as a skyscraper.
Cohousing is an intentional community of private homes clustered around shared space. The term originated in Denmark in late 1960s. Each attached or single family home has traditional amenities, including a private kitchen. Shared spaces typically feature a common house, which may include a large kitchen and dining area, laundry, and recreational spaces. Shared outdoor space may include parking, walkways, open space, and gardens. Neighbors also share resources like tools and lawnmowers.
An apartment, flat, or unit, is a self-contained housing unit that occupies part of a building, generally on a single storey. There are many names for these overall buildings, see below. The housing tenure of apartments also varies considerably, from large-scale public housing, to owner occupancy within what is legally a condominium, to tenants renting from a private landlord.
A housing estate is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
A terrace or terraced house (UK) or townhouse (US) is an architectural term for a form of medium-density housing that first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are known as row houses or row homes, commonly found in older cities such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Toronto.
A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design.
A dingbat is a type of apartment building that flourished in the Sun Belt region of the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, a vernacular variation of shoebox style "stucco boxes". Dingbats are boxy, two or three-story apartment houses with overhangs sheltering street-front parking. They remain widely in use today as “bastions of affordable shelter.”
Multifamily residential is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units can be next to each other, or stacked on top of each other. A common form is an apartment building. Many intentional communities incorporate multifamily residences, such as in cohousing projects. Sometimes units in a multifamily residential building are condominiums, where typically the units are owned individually rather than leased from a single apartment building owner.
Lafayette Park is an neighborhood located east of Downtown Detroit. It contains a residential area of some 4,900 people and covers 0.07 sq mi.
Student housing owned by the University of California, Los Angeles is governed by two separate departments: the Office of Residential Life, and Housing and Hospitality Services, and provides housing for both undergraduates and graduate students, on and off-campus.
Medium-density housing is a term used within urban planning and academic literature to refer to a category of residential development that falls between detached suburban housing and large multi-story buildings. There is no singular definition of medium-density housing as its precise definition tends to vary between jurisdiction. Scholars however, have found that medium density housing ranges from about 25 to 80 dwellings per hectare, although most commonly sits around 30 and 40 dwellings/hectare. Typical examples of medium-density housing include duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, row homes, detached homes with garden suites, and walk-up apartment buildings.
Granada Shoppes and Studios, also known as the Granada Buildings, is an imaginative, Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style block-long complex consisting of four courtyard-connected structures, in Central Los Angeles, California. It was built immediately to the southeast of Lafayette Park in the Westlake District, in 1927.
El Cabrillo is a two-story, ten-unit Spanish-style courtyard condominium building located at the southeast corner of Franklin Avenue and Grace Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The Spanish Colonial Revival style building was designed by architects Arthur and Nina Zwebell and built in 1928 by movie mogul Cecil B. DeMille.
Kyu Sung Woo is a South Korean architect and principal of the architectural design firm, Kyu Sung Woo Architects, Inc. The firm's projects include many built and proposed works in the United States and South Korea.
8 House, also known as Big House, is a large mixed-use development built in the shape of a figure 8 on the southern perimeter of the new suburb of Ørestad in Copenhagen, Denmark. Designed by Bjarke Ingels, founding partner of the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the bow-shaped building consists of 61,000 square metres of three different types of residential housing and 10,000 square metres of retail premises and offices. It is the largest private development ever undertaken in Denmark. Commissioned by Store Frederikslund Holding, Høpfner A/S and Danish Oil Company A/S in 2006, it is Ingels' third housing development in Ørestad, following VM Houses and Mountain Dwellings.
The Star Apartments are a purpose-built residential housing complex on Los Angeles' Skid Row that caters to the needs of the long-term homeless. Opened in October 2014, the Star Apartments include 102 units averaging 350 square feet, alongside amenities such as on-site medical services, counseling, fitness and art facilities and a community garden. The complex was developed by the Skid Row Housing Trust, and designed by Los Angeles-based firm Michael Maltzan Architecture. It received LEED Platinum status in August 2015. The building also houses the Los Angeles County Department for Health Services' Housing for Health division.
The Wilhelmine Ring is the name for a belt of distinctive multi-occupancy rental housing blocks constructed in the second half of the 19th century around the historic city center of Berlin. It is characterized by a dense settlement pattern with four- to five-story residential buildings with side and rear wings around an inner courtyard. The designation reflects the period of origin of this town planning solution under the German monarchs Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II.
The residential architecture in Historic Cairo covers the area that was built during the Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk, Ottoman, French occupation and even Mohamed Ali periods. Historic Cairo covers an area of around 523.66 ha on the eastern bank of the Nile river and is surrounded by the modern quarters of Greater Cairo. First report of activities of Urban Regeneration Project for Historic Cairo set a map to compare the world heritage property and buffer zone in different institutions such as (URHC) & Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
The Cote Apartment House is a historic multi-unit residential building at 16 Elm Street in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Built in 1914, it is a distinctive late example of Victorian architecture, set as part of a group of buildings typical of residential developments by the town's French Canadian immigrants. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
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