All together now!
How do the stories of self, us, now, and place, from weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 come together for you? What is the synthesis of your ideas and interests?
‘Ties that bind.’
Developing each stage of this course feels like another few stitches in a larger fabric of healing solutions. Not limiting myself to architectural answers throughout this process has led me to search for healthier and all-encompassing approaches to understanding, coexisting, and loving humans. Digging deep into myself –how I see myself, how I know myself, how others may view myself– has allowed me to discover these ‘ties that bind’ us all.
I think every assignment has guided me within my strategies and mindset for the next. Everything comes together; they’re all hung upon the same string. Applying the same techniques for analyzing my ‘Story of Self’, ‘Story of Us’, and ‘Story of Now’, I’m able to discover the ‘Story of Place’ in Poughkeepsie. Diving into real perspectives, stories, histories, and pride for Poughkeepsie, I can understand and appreciate PK’s ‘Story of Self’ without replacing it with my own. A translation of how I understand myself, my community, and my now can be applied to place, with the correct measures. This is possible through greater analysis and greater empathy of place, with a direct goal subconsciously guiding all decisions.
Going through my own process, everything just feels interconnected. Even if I can’t see the thread at first, I adjust my angle and find another knot, another stitch, another relation. I began with an idea, before even stepping foot in Poughkeepsie, that I now see can and should be interwoven into the infrastructure of my design and the city’s urban fabric. Looking first at college students, I was worried I had led myself down a path too narrow, but with the extensive needs of Poughkeepsie, I’ve found it helpful to specify the mission; constraints bring opportunities. After visiting, physically walking the streets, stepping on the site, and hearing the requests of locals, I gathered my own observations to formulate a warm ‘Welcome’ to Poughkeepsie. The site is located around a high density of commercial, roadside architecture, not necessarily desirable for a housing design. But what if we spin the narrative? Looking at the history of roadside architecture, it's a style that remains communicative to the public, so how can my solution be communicative to not only residents of the building, but residents and visitors of PK alike? Well make it look how you think it would! Implementing the town-house style of many residential buildings throughout Poughkeepsie I think there is great opportunity to create a new mini-hub between downtown PK and the PK limits. Still early in development I would love to create a center for supportive housing utilizing educational services and commerce –a program to come soon– a community spot rooted in integration, collaboration, respect, and love, that communicates both the design’s intent and Poughkeepsie’s rich essence.
A hopeful tie that binds.
