A problem I feel pertains to the USA, and to great part of the world, is illegal immigration. This particular group of people gets to foreign countries with very little or nothing at all, undergoes hard labor and poor living conditions, without being credited for it, and never being allowed to integrate into the community. Another situation which affects neighborhoods like Brooklyn is gentrification. Gentrified areas “rehabilitate” by pushing out its current inhabitants not by accommodating their neglected needs. These inhabitants are commonly part of strong immigrant communities, which ironically are the best examples of real neighborhoods in the city. By gentrifying areas, communities are being stratified further, not helping with the coexistence of different demographics, and moving farther away from the possibility of creating real neighborhoods, where neighbors acknowledge, help and learn from each other.
As a solution to this situation I’m proposing a case study of a live/work center for immigrants (legal and illegal) that will create a more integrated demographic in the Fulton Mall area by studying the boundaries between public and private spaces and the interaction of bodies in space. Looking at the Fulton Mall area, the service that could best cater the needs of its inhabitants and at the same time produce enough jobs for a certain number of immigrants, is a deli/game bar. From my own experience in the city, I’ve come to find that in all types of demographics people use and/or begin to adopt these spaces to gather, hence it would make sense to use this program as a tool for mixing the communities.
With the idea of integration as the main base for my design, I’ve adopted it to create the language of the space. The building integrates with the community and the area through its program, by literally opening up to the street. The two buildings chosen then integrate with each other, by breaking through the dividing wall and tying the two spaces together with the program. The different components of the program are meant to merge into each other and create links between the floors. The necessary divisions between more public or private spaces, will be approached by introducing subtle characteristics that will divide without necessarily having to introduce a wall and a door. Everyday observation of mundane activities should influence the design of favorable situations for group gatherings, and mixing of workers and users, breaking the boundaries between them, whether it’s about sitting on steps for a quick lunch or around a pool table to watch others play.
This project should not only show how good design can derive from direct observation, but it will also educate about the importance of creating spaces that encourage conversation. It will also offer a possible solution for the global immigration problem and educate our society about the role of the immigrant, not only as workforce but as a valuable source of information, a good neighbor. Design should not only be geared to the most fortunate, there is a lot left to do and a lot of theorizing that can spring from working and understanding people that usually get the scraps.