In their design studio, Jamal and Emily are working on a public housing project that involves various units on a large site. Jamal’s project is beginning to resemble a commune, where the families that will occupy the housing will share eating and food preparation areas. He feels this organization is more efficient and accounts for the ways people like to be socially interactive when dining. He has a few spare minutes and stops by Emily’s desk. She is placing various small pods across the site. Her solution emphasizes the autonomy of the family unit. Jamal notices the differences between the two projects and begins to

understand what his professors meant when they said that architects and designers define how people will live through their designs.