Architecture of inclusivity accommodating diversity within post war towers

While post-war apartment neighbourhoods experienced drastic changes in their socio-demographic characteristics overtime, little has changed in terms of their built form. Despite housing Toronto’s most socially diverse populations, the homogeneous towers are unable to fully accommodate the diversity of households that exist within them. Currently, the most common response to the increasing obsolescence of post-war towers is inaction, thus not contributing to Toronto’s urgent lack of housing diversity. Alternatively, by renewing the existing towers so that residential units can be optimized and individualized to create a larger spectrum of socially inclusive housing, people with diverse needs and/or preferences can be accommodated without compromising their individuality. By focusing on a site within the St. James Town neighbourhood, this thesis explores how to accommodate user diversity and allow for residents to participate in determining their living environments.