Fabulous Ageing

Inspired by the Italian film Le Favolose, where five transgender women honour their late friend through collective ritual and shared intimacy, this project reimagines the concept of the closet as both an architectural space and a queer metaphor.

The transformation of Parkhaus Sihlquai addresses the urgent need for supportive housing for the aging population, with a focus on transgender and queer communities—groups disproportionately affected by poverty, loneliness, and social exclusion in later life.

The project challenges the conventional hierarchy between furniture, rooms, and building infrastructure, creating what Robin Evans describes as “a matrix of discrete but thoroughly interconnected chambers.” Instead of traditional corridors separating private bedrooms from shared kitchens, the design introduces a network of flexible closet rooms that function as threshold spaces between intimacy and collectivity.

The spatial organisation of the floor plans is conceptualised in layers of thresholds, offering graduated transitions from private to communal areas. These adaptable chambers serve multiple purposes—private retreat, transformation space, or extension of communal zones.

Drawing from the film's portrayal of the closet as “a spaceship for journeying to distant worlds,” each unit incorporates intimate spaces that support self-expression and identity formation. Sliding doors allow residents to reconfigure their living arrangements, choosing between intimate retreat and shared engagement, and also allow different living constellation.

Reused galvanized steel guardrails from the original parking lot are integrated into the sliding partition elements, functioning as door and wall stops and forming nodes that enable adaptable configurations.

Mirrors installed between the existing concrete ceiling and the wooden frame of the sliding door subtly extend the spatial height, making the low ceiling of the former parking structure feel more generous.

On the roof, a sauna with views toward the Limmat River provides a safe gathering space for trans individuals, acknowledging that bathing and sauna contexts are particularly vulnerable environments where transgender people often face discrimination and require protection.

The project recognises that “coming out” is not a singular moment but an ongoing negotiation across scales and contexts. By offering architectural fluidity—from furniture to closet to building-scale communal facilities—the design embraces the evolving nature of queer identity and aging. Shared resources, including communal kitchens, laundry facilities, storage, workshops and clothing exchanges, inhabit the ramped spaces, fostering the solidarity and alternative kinships essential to queer life, while ensuring each resident maintains “a room of one’s own” for self-determined living.

Project by: Simona Mele

Teaching team: Anna Puigjaner, Dafni Retzepi, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Pol Esteve Castelló, Lisa Maillard, He Shen, He Yufei. In collaboration with BUK

Master Thesis: Spring 2025