Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Architecture (MArch)
Department
Architecture
First Advisor
Emily Ezquerro
Second Advisor
Jacqueline Shaw
Abstract
The rhythms of domestic life are largely hidden behind walls and closed doors, rendering everyday acts of care invisible. Further, the ability to have a home to invite others into and to know one’s neighbors has become a privilege, which produces a challenge in how we live together. In Common reframes this narrative, drawing attention to everyday routine visible as public care.
By situating itself in Roxbury, Massachusetts, opportunities emerge to recognize shared humanity through the inhabitation and maintenance of programmed public rooms. Without walls to privatize care, the rhythms of resting, cooking, living, and caring become legible as collective practices. Seeking to delight in ordinary acts in this Boston neighborhood, domestic spaces and routines become instruments of civic life, where architecture is not the boundary of invisible and inaccessible care, but rather the signifier of commonality within an urban context.
Recommended Citation
McLaughlin, Brooke, "In Common: A Housing Exploration in Roxbury, Massachusetts" (2026). Masters Theses. 1659.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1659
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.