Little Square

In Gran Torino, Walt spends his days polishing his car, sitting on the porch, and watching the neighborhood. When his young neighbor gets into trouble, he intervenes. Their friendship grows through small gestures — shared meals, quiet presence, the simple act of seeing. We began to think: to care is to see.

And so, we designed for porosity — for spaces where people can stay, pass, and be seen. We renovated an existing residential building into a home for elderly people living alone. The ground floor opens to the public with a tea house, coffee corner, and a garden of small squares. Some original trees remain, offering continuity and shade. A communal bathhouse, sauna, and laundry encourage daily outdoor movement and informal gathering.

Living units occupy the first to third floors. Moving from street to garden, the sequence is: private balconies, rooms, bathrooms, a shared hallway with kitchens and movable furniture, and standing showers at the far end — four per floor.

The fourth floor, once a structural attic, is transformed into a lightweight storage space with skylights and corrugated panels.

We call it little square — a place shaped not by enclosure, but by gesture. A quiet framework for gathering, for seeing, and for care.

Project by: Cheng-Yu Hsu, Lingxue He

Teaching team: Anna Puigjaner, Dafni Retzepi, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Lisa Maillard, Luis Úrculo, Pol Esteve Castelló, He Shen

Design Studio: Spring 2025

Photos and Videos taken by Luis Úrculo