HABITABLE FURNITURE



ISSUE
25’



Urban Salon is a modular and transformable furniture system designed to bring the intimacy of home into public urban spaces.

RESEARCHER & THINKER + DESIGNER + MAKER


We investigated how interior architecture principles can reshape the city through joy, intergenerational play, and ergonomic design. Emphasizing adaptability and sustainability, we challenged traditional ideas of public furniture.

Our collaborative work reimagined an open urban area in Houston as an inviting and dynamic gathering place. Guided by the visions of Aldo van Eyck, Laurie Olin, Izaskun Chinchilla, and William Whyte, we created a prototype that merges technical precision with playful, human-centered design. The result is an interactive, community-focused installation—welcoming people of all ages to rest, play, and connect.

Through research, material experimentation, and professional engagement, we brought our ideas to life at full scale. Dive into each student project and explore the complete studio magazine in PDF format for a closer look at the process and outcomes.




OUR TEAM

Ameen Hindi               Richard Sarmiento
Hunter Jenkins            Nesiah Neves
Vi Nguyen                 Daniela Contreras
Raul Vela                 Neha Kulkarni
Alaa Allaou               Pamela Posadas
Luke Hart                 Abby Winter
Leanna Landry             Jordan Phillip
Payton Bessent


TA
Richele Refuerzo




ISSUE 24’
Release.     May 21, 2024


HABITABLE Furniture is a reconfigurable system of mobile elements, serving as both a flexible display and space-making solution.

JOY + ERGONOMICS + TRANSFORMABLE


We explored how design can enhance daily lives and activities, focusing on transformation and responsiveness to optimize space functionally and qualitatively. Joy and ergonomics were our primary goals.

Our collaborative project transformed a residual space in the UHCoAD into a joyful and versatile IA student lounge. Through teamwork, innovation, and a focus on ecological responsibility, we created a multifunctional furniture system. This system allows users to personalize their space for work, relaxation, and collaboration, combining advanced materials, recyclability, and playful design elements. The final prototype embodies playfulness, innovation, and user-centric design, inviting a closer look at diverse interactions within the space.

Visit each project page, including the complete magazines in PDF format, for insights into our process and results. Enjoy the journey!


OUR TEAM

Richele Refuerzo        Jesus Aquirre
Victoria Gonzalez       Alex Baltazar
Paul Chavarria          Whitney Lau
Jade Guerra             Virginia Briagas
Elena Mexicano          Thuc Tran
Mikayla Zientek         Marshall Bradley
Nicole Valdes


TA
Lene Fourie

PROFESSOR

Marta Rodriguez
Ph.D. Architect

Marta Rodriguez's architectural journey spans continents, from Madrid to Tokyo and back to Paris, and now Houston, where she teaches and practices with a passion for creating inclusive, sustainable spaces. Her expertise in small-scale living and human-scale urban design is showcased through her award-winning projects and research-driven approach. Through her firm HABITABLE Studio and her advocacy in the Habitable City journal, Marta seeks a more connected, equitable, and livable built environment, embodying a vision of architecture that is adaptable.
   

OUR COLLEGE

Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design
UNIVERSITY of HOUSTON


01 URBAN DISTORTION





In Urban Distortion, a student reimagines Diego Rivera’s mural Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central through a kinetic bamboo pavilion installed in Mexico City’s Alameda Central. The structure uses mirrors and flexible forms to reinterpret Rivera’s realism as a dynamic, cubist landscape of memory. Made with local fabrics and shaped by puppetry traditions, the pavilion responds to community interaction—shifting with each use and redefining what it means for architecture to be public, playful, and alive.



Process











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