Kenda Blanks
Our concept for the site is a community that celebrates aging in a multitude of forms. We all chose different constituencies to focus on and explored how to tie them together into an intergenerational and interspecies community around the sharing of resources and support infrastructure on the site.
Our four constituencies are arranged around a single-story central building that provides the majority of the support spaces for the community. These support spaces include classrooms and event spaces, shared office and meeting spaces, recreation spaces, bus stops, a community kitchen, gardens, and lodging for support professionals or guests.
The buildings designed primarily as living spaces for the groups of constituents overlap the support space at the second level, and the rooftop of the support space acts as a common green space for the whole community, including the surrounding neighborhood.
Our four constituencies are arranged around a single-story central building that provides the majority of the support spaces for the community. These support spaces include classrooms and event spaces, shared office and meeting spaces, recreation spaces, bus stops, a community kitchen, gardens, and lodging for support professionals or guests.
The buildings designed primarily as living spaces for the groups of constituents overlap the support space at the second level, and the rooftop of the support space acts as a common green space for the whole community, including the surrounding neighborhood.
We examined the existing conditions of the site. We didn’t want our community to feel isolated or insular, so it was important to us to include design gestures and choices that engaged the surrounding streets and neighborhood. A large opening off of the commercial thoroughfare draws people in, ramping up to the inner elevated courtyard. Smaller ramps provide access to the bordering residential areas.
Above are the parti, circulation, and program diagrams developed through trace paper diagraming.
Above is the sketch diagram and the sketch site model.
I am focusing on the constituents of aging out teens and young adults. Aging out is when youth between the ages of 18-21 reach the maximum age allowed to be supported by a formal system of care such as foster care. More than 20,000 children age out of the U.S. foster care system every year, and 20% of those children become instantly homeless. This space will encourage independence, found families, and a support system. The spaces will include a place for therapy and job opportunities, scattered and co-living housing with opportunities to personalize their spaces.