The beginning of Renee Chow's 201 urban studio involved a set of housing case studies. The end of the exercise consisted of a design modification of the original schemes to increase their capacity – capacity meaning their ability to be dwelled in, to adapt to the different uses of the unique individuals who would live in them.

The Hanoi Space Block is an experimental housing project by Kazuo Kojima focusing on generating a high density of apartment units in a hot and humid climate. Natural ventilation was paramount.

The original design process involved creating a spatial unit, or “Basic Space Block,” of 2.5x2.5m, and modifying their aggregation based on computer fluid-dynamic modeling to optimize natural ventilation.

More information on the Hanoi Space Block can be found on the architects' website and on these blogs.