Senior citizen cooperative housing Masten Park

Zoom image: View of the "hobbies and passions" community for seniors created by Chen, Holanhan and Sokol.

Map showing small community design that brought together seniors with widely varied personal histories, some so athletically accomplished as to have, say, run marathons, while other seniors had confronted physical disabilities.

View of the "hobbies and passions" community for seniors created by Chen, Holanhan and Sokol.

These projects were part of a larger studio examining models for infill housing within two Buffalo neighborhoods, one of which was the Masten District.

For this inclusive design graduate research studio, students were initially assigned to design cooperative housing on single infill lots, and later on multi-infill lots, meant for seniors. The projects shown here reflect the latter assignment.

One team of 4 students focused on health and wellness, proposing a small community that brought together seniors with widely varied personal histories, some so athletically accomplished as to have, say, run marathons, while other seniors had confronted physical disabilities.

A second group of three students envisioned a small community for seniors devoted to “hobbies and passions,” ranging from pottery to gardening to cooking, enjoying special facilities that included common studios.