Filip Paunovic
Cultivated Encounters
Environmental Design
2026
The modern built environment does not need another hyper efficient dense residential tower... it needs a cure for urban loneliness. This thesis recognizes that the ultimate measure of successful architecture is not just spatial efficiency, but human connection. By weaponizing various strategies of human connection, this new typology provides a much needed blueprint for how we can live with each other, rather than merely next to each other.
“Cultivated Encounters investigates how people work, live, and interact with one another. Introducing a new typology of a mixed-use that questions what it means to live in a building and what it means to be part of a larger community such as the rapidly changing area of the Junction. This thesis is all about removing the invisible barrier between people within high-density buildings in order to connect instead of divide. Allowing people to interact is crucial to bridging this gap, and chance encounters are one of the approaches that I take to tackle this issue. The use of double facade units will be crucial to creating a community within the building as the interior corridor becomes a pedestrian walkway that is used constantly. The thesis will encourage people not only to see one another, but to also interact in shared activities. This is seen with the community led gardens that are located on the south side of each unit floor. The thesis incorporates a variety of programming that is arranged in a manner which will allow for both residents and members of the community to exist within one larger social hub. These concepts will help the thesis to shine light on the overarching issue of social isolation between people within the context of the built environment.”
