Multi-Family Dream Home

Multi-Family Dream Home is the whimsical apartment building I crafted from paper for Be Longing, an exhibition exploring ideas around home, exhibited at Walrus Design in February/March of 2024 with the Vancouver Design Bureau.

When we talk about the idea of a home, the image that automatically comes to mind is that of a single-family home. As a renter living in a low-rise apartment building shared with neighbours, I wanted to create something more reflective of my own living situation. The work is a playful papercraft exploration of a multi-family home, incorporating pattern, colour, and organic forms.

I made this piece as a love letter to my fellow renters in a city with a staggering housing affordability issue, and a crisis of unhoused people. There is nowhere for us to go. I made this for us as a beautiful special place we can all live, while feeling safe and secure.

The building is made up of six colourful apartments and the bottom floor doorway that leads to the lobby. I designed the apartment modules as interlocking puzzle pieces that fit together and become a larger whole. I went with maximum colour and surface design because I think the overuse of bland colours and minimalism (specific to Vancouver) makes for a visually boring place to live.