Through the Rome Prize, I will examine housing typologies in Rome to understand how architectural frameworks can support the domestic commons. How can housing typologies address questions of scale while remaining situated within specific social and environmental contexts? How can typological frameworks enable adaptation and social appropriation? While in Rome, the research will analyze three key periods: ancient Roman housing (insulae), prewar, and postwar social housing developed through the Istituto Autonomo per le Case Popolari by architects such as Innocenzo Sabbatini, Ludovico Quaroni, and Mario Fiorentino. Archival research and spatial analysis will form the basis for a series of composite drawings tracing the relationship between formal organization, permanence, and social appropriation across time. These studies will inform speculative designs for new housing typologies that can be tuned to their context. In light of the ongoing housing crisis in California, I hope to bring back knowledge about how medium-density collective housing typologies can support greater social equity and self-determination.

The photograph of Neeraj Bhatia was taken by Nico Zurcher.