| Installation
Porch: An Architecture of Generosity
David Baker Architects is an invited exhibitor for PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity—the U.S. Pavilion exhibition at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia—contributing to the broader dialogue on the role of architecture in fostering generosity, connection, and cultural exchange.
Exquisite Porch
Our interactive installation is an interpretation of one of our climate-adaptive building designs, as expressed in the spirit of the additive, collaborative parlor game Exquisite Corpse.
Williams Terrace is an affordable housing community in Charleston, S.C., designed to support seniors to live independently downtown.
The building draws on Charleston’s Single House, a local typology characterized by what is regionally known as a “piazza”—a sheltered outdoor porch centered between the garden and the home that functions as an entryway and private living and gathering space. DBA partnered with Charleston architect Eddie Bello, AIA, to envision and realize this creative, contextual multifamily housing design.
At the heart of Williams Terrace, a stack of mega-porches do triple duty as circulation, social space, and an extension of each compact home. These porches were made possible by an innovative floor plan that arrays a series of unusually long, narrow apartments with a strong north-south orientation. The result is livable, dense urban housing that is social, climate-responsive, comfortable, and personal.
Without defined boundaries, the broad porches span multiple homes and have become a richly layered series of shared spaces that evolve as residents add what serves or pleases them.
“Exquisite Porch” is a riff on “exquisite corpse” (from the French cadavre exquis)—a Surrealist visual game invented in the early 20th century. An “exquisite corpse” is a collective artwork where each person‘s contribution is independent from the others, creating a unique, unplanned result.
The interactive model invites festival-goers to select from a library of transparent cards featuring people and scenes to create their own porch, adding incrementally to the overall vibe of the building.
Exquisite Corpse
An “exquisite corpse” is an assemblage created by three artists each drawing one third of an imaginary creature or scene without seeing the other two parts, such as these examples from a recent pin-up at our studio.
