EAST HARLEM COMMUNITY PAVILION - PARSONS DESIGN WORKSHOP - Spring 2016 - Coordinator & Studio Professor: Nick Brinen
Landscape Consultant: Victoria Marshall
Construction Administration: Anna Mckay, Dani Giannone, Nick Shaw
The studio undertook the design and construction of a new pavilion, seating space and playscape for a Community Garden in East Harlem that is referred to as El Sitio Feliz (The Happy Site). The garden is attached to The Union Settlement
Association, a resource for East Harlem residents of all ages, and a passionate advocate for the needs of underserved communities. They bring education, wellness and community-building programs to the neighborhood, empowering people with opportunities to better their lives. The park, garden and playground are amenities the community heavily relies upon for the success of their programs. The students involved in this studio were tasked to re-imagine the space, including the pavilion and playscape, by combining ethnographic analysis with their studio process.
The team comprised of 15 students from the departments of architecture and lighting design executed all aspects of the project, from community engagement, schematic design, through on-site construction. The studio curriculum was structured to enable a participatory process of working with the various user groups and program administration to guide the direction for designing. The semester began with initial site visits for community engagement and site analysis. After the cultural, physical and phenomenological data was evaluated, the student team organized events for the various user groups to discuss aspirations, ideas, and functionality of the site.
STUDENT TEAM: Anam Ahmed, Ben Schuetz, Charles Andrews, Takako Taniguchi, Megan Hoover, Mike Thai, Elena Manigigian, Zin Mon Thet, Hanieh Havipour, Alexander Valencia, Jim Naylor Jenna Vertrees, Christian Neuner, Shane Pedrazza, Setpheap San