Rethinking the Void
Mentor 1
Arijit Sen
Location
Union 183
Start Date
24-4-2015 9:20 AM
Description
As part of a year-long collaboration with Picturing Milwaukee: Washington Park, the question was explored – Can architecture be used as a catalyst to further engagement, empowerment, and creativity within local communities? / / Investigation into this question began in the spring of 2014 with the collecting and analyzing of historic and present data of Milwaukee’s Washington Park neighborhood. The following summer residents became involved as their voices and lived experiences became the main focus. During the fall the collected information along with the voices, concerns, ideas, and lives of the residents was used to direct and produce architectural design concepts specific to the community. / / The information collected to perform this analysis over the course of the year was through oral history interviews, architectural documentation, field measuring, archival data collection, site analysis, community design charrettes, roundtable discussions, and multi-media documentation. / / Upon hearing the array of voices and witnessing the diverse lived experiences that exist within Washington Park the vitality of the community becomes apparent. While the area is widely perceived as lacking, residents work to reclaim this image. The multiplicity of scales of this recovery is fascinating. The majority of this recovery, reclaiming, and rethinking is done at a community level, which focuses on the empowerment of residents instead of changing outside perceptions. / / This presentation seeks to explore, analyze, and build upon recovering, reclaiming, and rethinking socially perceived voids in Washington Park – voids being that which is considered empty or of no value. These voids existing at an individual, familial, neighborhood, built, and unbuilt scale. Further examining how the original Picturing Milwaukee question ties into this concept – How might architecture work to reshape and rethink perceptions of void. / / It is important to understand the abstract and physical approaches the community uses to empower residents. Implementing these approaches within socially engaged architecture can help further promote a distinct sense of identity and stewardship within the area. Further encouraging all members of the community to realize the power of their experiences in closing gaps, filling voids, reclaiming, cultivating, and giving meaning to their spaces. /
Rethinking the Void
Union 183
As part of a year-long collaboration with Picturing Milwaukee: Washington Park, the question was explored – Can architecture be used as a catalyst to further engagement, empowerment, and creativity within local communities? / / Investigation into this question began in the spring of 2014 with the collecting and analyzing of historic and present data of Milwaukee’s Washington Park neighborhood. The following summer residents became involved as their voices and lived experiences became the main focus. During the fall the collected information along with the voices, concerns, ideas, and lives of the residents was used to direct and produce architectural design concepts specific to the community. / / The information collected to perform this analysis over the course of the year was through oral history interviews, architectural documentation, field measuring, archival data collection, site analysis, community design charrettes, roundtable discussions, and multi-media documentation. / / Upon hearing the array of voices and witnessing the diverse lived experiences that exist within Washington Park the vitality of the community becomes apparent. While the area is widely perceived as lacking, residents work to reclaim this image. The multiplicity of scales of this recovery is fascinating. The majority of this recovery, reclaiming, and rethinking is done at a community level, which focuses on the empowerment of residents instead of changing outside perceptions. / / This presentation seeks to explore, analyze, and build upon recovering, reclaiming, and rethinking socially perceived voids in Washington Park – voids being that which is considered empty or of no value. These voids existing at an individual, familial, neighborhood, built, and unbuilt scale. Further examining how the original Picturing Milwaukee question ties into this concept – How might architecture work to reshape and rethink perceptions of void. / / It is important to understand the abstract and physical approaches the community uses to empower residents. Implementing these approaches within socially engaged architecture can help further promote a distinct sense of identity and stewardship within the area. Further encouraging all members of the community to realize the power of their experiences in closing gaps, filling voids, reclaiming, cultivating, and giving meaning to their spaces. /
