Faculty of Design
Environmental Design
Heart Bolivar
URBAN SYNAPTIC
Environmental Design
2026
NOMADIC HOUSING AS CONNECTIVE TISSUEWith increasing urban population and more fluid patterns of human migration, cities encounter rigid housing systems and underutilized infrastructure that do not accommodate temporary or shifting populations.
“This thesis reimagines dynamic housing as an urban synaptic system, transforming obsolete parking lots into connective tissue for people living in constant movement. As cities evolve toward reduced car dependency, these underutilized sites become opportunities to support nomadic and transitional forms of living. Urban Synaptic proposes a housing network that plugs into the city without enforcing permanence, allowing unit dwellings and site structures to move, adapt, and reconfigure over time. By operating like a neural synaptic network, the system forms flexible connections that respond to the flow of people and activity, making adaptability and mobility central to the city's life.”
Celebrate the work of OCAD U’s class of 2025/2026!