Active Urban Dwelling: Variations of Body and Space for Improved Well-Being

Designed for efficiency and economy, the design of apartment housing in Toronto has become repetitive, often leading our lived environments to lack spatial variation and limit how we use, and move, in space. This impairs the well-being of our minds and bodies as we slip into the ‘automatic’ -- increasing the risks of declines in our cognitive functioning, physical abilities, and life span. This thesis proposes and tests a new conception of mid-rise urban dwelling that is based around active lifestyles through physical and social engagement. Various scales are considered: that of private dwelling, shared clusters of spaces, shared building sites, and context and site as it integrates with the city. Findings of this thesis highlight that urban living can promote well-being through the use of affordances, proximities, and public and private gradients which create interstitial spaces between housing and the city.