Book of Big Ideas - Summer Scholars 2021 by Claire Shue

BOOK OF BIG IDEAS Summer Scholars 2021

in Collaboration with Trailblaze Development and Kappa Alpha Psi

CONTENTS The Scholars

The Big Ideas

The Problem

The Solution?

This Opportunity

The Kit of Parts

The Non-Conclusion

110

History Demographics + Patterns Housing Sustainability

From left to right: Kiaron Aiken, KJ Ammon, Sophia Li, Kenneth Hicks

The Scholars

The Summer Scholar experience led to unforgettable friendships, professional growth, and an eye opening level of skill acceleration aiding the Scholars in advancing their design intelligence. Ranging from universities along the east coast, the Summer Scholars forged an intense and thoughtful relationship with Hanbury, Trailblaze Development, Kappa Alpha Psi, and each other through dedication and passion for meaningful and mindful design. The Book of Big Ideas is the encapsulation of that experience.

The Big Ideas: thesis statement

“

This research aims to develop a model for growth that is centered on community voice as a tool to create a space to live, engage, and gather through a series of flexible parts that fuse together. Equitable design is achieved by stabilizing the community, reinforcing culture and identity, and long-term investment.

”

THE PROBLEM

THE KIT OF PARTS

THE SOLUTION? THIS OPPORTUNITY

Introduction The research project is aimed towards presenting a sustainable and equitable development model to the Raleigh Alumni Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and Trailblaze Development. During this process, it is important to acknowledge and honor the legacy of Kappa Alpha Psi’s long standing community engagement work around the city of Raleigh. Additionally, we were prompted to knit together the historic, social, and economic fabric of a rapidly gentrifying area in Southeast Raleigh while creating spaces for all neighbors. The intention is to develop a case study that can serve as a resource to other cities facing gentrification.

The Kappa Achievement Park (750 King Richard Rd) is a 9.52 acre site, and it is located roughly 3 miles (ten minute drive) east of Downtown Raleigh. It was purchased by Kappa Charitable Trust Fund, inc in September 2003 for the Kappa Alpha Psi Raleigh Alumni Chapter. It has a small single-story building (roughly 3,600 sqft) on site that the chapter uses for meetings. There is a stream running through the site that could be highlighted in the development. The site is currently zoned R-4 on the City of Raleigh UDO (residential; 4 units per acre). We hope to eventually rezone it to a mixed-use development with an affordable and missing middle housing priority.

The property is situated in a vibrant part of the city near Bugg Magnet Elementary School, Worthdale Park, Wake Med Hospital, and the Sherwood Forest/Worthdale neighborhoods. This unique development has the potential to become an appealing and dynamic mixed-use space for people of all ages and abilities featuring programming and activation around food and beverage, flexible workspaces, education and entrepreneurship, art and culture, and health and wellness. Presently, there is no connection between downtown and the site or co-mingling of sorts. The creation of a place that welcomes the community is essential. 11

The Problem:

exposed through research

1 2 3 4

Southeast Raleigh History Demographics + Patterns

Housing

Sustainability

GENTRIFICATION

DISINVESTMENT PATTERNS

RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVISION

MISSING MIDDLE HOUSING

COST BURDEN HOUSEHOLDS

Series: Southside in 1966 - Present day South Park

Southeast Raleigh History

Raleigh was surveyed and planned by William Christmas in April 1792 with Union Square (now Capitol Square) reserved for the statehouse in the center. The principal streets radiate from Capitol Square. Raleigh is the nation’s first planned city capital, and the plan included four parks. When it was completed in 1794, Raleigh was said to be a “city of streets without houses”. A critical element to Raleigh’s future growth was the provision of a stable, potable water supply. From its founding in 1792, until the municipal water works went into operation, Raleigh depended on springs, wells and cisterns for its water supply. Although there was Union sentiment in Raleigh,

a celebration occurred when the State convention voted to secede from the United States on May 20, 1861. The State Capitol served as the meeting place for the state’s wartime legislatures, and the city became a concentration point for Confederate troops. Following the Civil War, Raleigh became a center of opportunity and advancement for African Americans. The presence of institutions, like the church and university, prompted development of the surrounding land into black neighborhoods. Other black neighborhoods were established on the outskirts of town. The Oberlin community, founded in the late 1860s as a freedmen’s village, is today represented by several late

19th and early 20th-century dwellings. By the turn of the 19th century, these educational and business prospects were creating a new black middle class. Simultaneously, the social and political barriers of segregation emerged. While the diversification of North Carolina’s economy brought steady growth to Raleigh, the city became increasingly segregated as both law and policy created ever sharper divisions along racial lines. Exclusively White suburbs, such as Oakwood, developed at the higher elevations to the north and west of the city center. Connected to downtown by roads or streetcar lines, these neighborhoods prospered in the presence of extant natural features, including streams, rolling hills, 14a-c: State Archives of North Carolina

Series: Southside in 1966 - Present day South Park

valleys, and forested tracts. Meanwhile, the growth of African American communities were largely confined to the city’s southeastern lowlands in and around the South Park and College Park neighborhoods. The rapid growth of these outlying settlements was paralleled by the emergence of black neighborhoods skirting Raleigh’s borders. East Raleigh (beyond East Street) used to be a fashionable white residential area before the Civil War. It wasn’t until the Reconstruction period that it had become a focus for black settlement. The values of racism, segregation, and white supremacy bolstered the wealthy white neighborhoods in Northwest Raleigh. This left the black and brown peoples to reside 15a-c: State Archives of North Carolina

in areas of low land value that are prone to flooding. It gave rise to a resourceful architectural response: the shotgun home, Shotgun homes are commonly made of wood frame construction and slightly elevated from the ground. The gradual disorganization of intergenerational land wealth further disabled the black and brown communities. The scars of this battle still show today. Moments of cultural bliss found its way to the surface in the form of “Porch Culture”. Not only did it bring a sense of place, safety and community, but it also created a unique space that holds spiritual and moral values.

Wake County

Raleigh

Raleigh Beltline Southeast Raleigh

“

The black neighborhoods of Raleigh, North Carolina reveal in their geography and architecture the history of the African American community in this southern city. The locations of these neighborhoods, and their specific building types and institutions at once embody local and personal choices, tastes, and constraints, as well as much broader cultural and regional characteristics. The setting, of course, has been a tumultuous and controversial one, marked by slavery and Jim Crow, generations of sedulously defended legal and customary racial segregation, and an unprecedented “farm-to-factory” migration. Richard Mattson

”

17: State Archives of North Carolina

Demographics + Patterns

Raleigh is the capital city of North Carolina. It sits between the mountains and the ocean. The city is one of the fastest growing in the United States with almost half a million residents. The median age is 33 and the median household income is $69,333. About 91.4% of Raleigh residents are US Citizens. The largest universities in the city are North Carolina State University, MyComputerCareer,edu-Raleigh, and Meredith College. There are about 13,000 degrees awarded each year, with a majority of them coming from NC State University. In 2019, the most common ethnicity group awarded degrees was White students. White students earn 4.2 more degrees than 18

Black or Brown students. This education gap ties into other racial and ethnic patterns found in Raleigh. Most people drive to work with the average commute being around 22 minutes, and the average household owns 2 cars. The residents who make the most annually live in Northwest Raleigh. The highest median income in Northwest Raleigh is $212,115 (Census Tract 517). The residents that make the least reside in Southeast Raleigh. The lowest median income in Southeast Raleigh is $28,963 (Census Tract 508). The income disparity in the city can be traced back into the 1900s when it became increasingly segregated through law, policy, and redlining.

Three Largest Ethnic Groups In 2019, there were 1.85 times more White residents in Raleigh, NC than any other race or ethnicity.

52%

$69,333

Population

Median Age

Female

Median Income

255,000

22 min

91%

Average Commute to Work

Are US Citizens

464,485

Are Employed

5.54% Annual Income Growth

One White household One Black/Brown household

Racial + Ethnic Divisions in Raleigh Each yellow dot represents a white household, and each pink dot represents a black or brown household. From the map, it is obvious that there are racial and ethnic divisions in Raleigh. The white population tends to live in Northwest Raleigh, whereas the black and brown populations live in Southeast Raleigh.

mortgage lenders. The marks classify those black and brown persons as “high-risk” borrowers. It renders them ineligible for the mortgages and loans to move into nicer neighborhoods. Although there is no official record of redlining in Raleigh, it is clear that some populations don’t have access to the resources to move.

The racial and ethnic divide in Raleigh is evident because of pre-existing political and social barriers. The segregation dates back to the Jim Crow era. Today, the racial lines are sharpened through redlining, Redlining is a government practice where they outline black and brown neighborhoods in red ink as a warning to banks and

This made the growth of Black and Brown communities confined to the city’s Southeastern lowlands. The Southeastern lowlands are prone to flooding, lack green space and city views. Meanwhile, the growth of White communities developed on the Northwestern highlands of the city. These white neighborhoods also had access to

abundant natural features like rolling hills, valleys, streams, and green parks. Their surroundings were very different than those in Black and Brown neighborhoods.

> $129K $88K-$128K $64K - $88K $44K- $64K < $44K

Income Disparity Looking at the income disparity with the racial and ethnic division in Raleigh speaks volumes. The darkest shade of yellow represents areas where the median income is upwards of $129,000. Where there is no color at all shows the areas that make a median income of $43,000 or less. The highest median income of the darkest yellow is actually $212,115 (Census Tract 517). The lowest median income in these areas is $28,963 (Census Tract 508). The income gap from Northwest Raleigh’s $212,115 and Southeast Raleigh’s $28,963 is huge.

White population growth Black/Brown population growth

Population Growth + Displacement The yellow depicts where the white population is growing. The pink shows where the nonwhite population is growing. The nonwhite communities are being forced out of the Raleigh Beltline because of increasing home value and land taxes. This causes the displacement of many citizens in the yellow region of Southeast Raleigh. This region is also going through gentrification. The city centers are growing more white as nonwhites are being priced out and displaced. 22

“

Here, and in the center of cities across the United States, a kind of demographic change most often associated with gentrifying parts of New York and Washington has been accelerating. White residents are increasingly moving into nonwhite neighborhoods, largely African-American ones. The New York Times

” 23

“

As white suburbs grow more diverse, nonwhite city centers grow more white. The New York Times

”

South Park, Raleigh South Park is a neighborhood directly south of Downtown Raleigh. It is a historically black neighborhood that is currently going through gentrification. Southeast Raleigh is not new to the city’s strong redlining history, disinvestment patterns, and gentrification. Redlining prevents black and brown persons to move out of their neighborhoods into nicer ones. It successfully keeps them confined to Southeast Raleigh. They would also suffer from disinvestment patterns.

Series: South Park today - old church, boarded up home, and new home

New schools, restaurants, shops, grocery stores, etc were constantly being built for their white counterparts in Northwest Raleigh. The lack of resources and amenities in Southeast Raleigh force the residents to take their vitality and money outside of their community. As Raleigh grows, it expands into the Southeast region. South Park is one of the first neighborhoods to be affected by the city’s growth pattern. 26a-c: photographed by Logan R. Cyrus

Income Differences The disproportionate income rates of whites and nonwhites in comparison to their rent price in South Park. This data shows that whites are making up to three times more than nonwhites in South Park. White families are moving into the neighborhood with extremely high incomes. The nonwhite incomes match South Park’s housing prices while whites dramatically exceed them.

Housing

According to Zillow, homes in Raleigh are selling in just four days. The site ranks Raleigh second in the U.S. for the fewest days a home is officially listed on the market. The average price of a Raleigh home is ranked above the average home price in the US.

48% Single Family Homes

39%

32% of Raleigh Homes Are Cost Burden

Multi-Family Homes

A cost burden home is one where the household is spending at least 30% of their income on housing. This includes rent and mortgage.

6,140

3.4%

50%

43%

People in need of access to transit

Growth rate per year

Homeowners

Renters

Affordable Housing The affordable housing projects in Raleigh are generally confined to Southeast Raleigh. The map above shows locations of Raleigh Housing Authority has public housing, affordable city and joint venture rentals, and federally funded projects.

Section 8 Housing Section 8 Housing is only available in Southeast Raleigh and outside the beltline. There are no neighborhoods that accept Section 8 vouchers in wealthier areas in Raleigh such as Northwest Raleigh. This further sharpens the racial and ethnic line between Northwest and Southeast Raleigh.

> $1M $200K-$350K < $50K

Beltline Home Value The map above illustrates the home values in the Raleigh Beltline. The darkest shades of pink represent the highest home values. The lowest values range from $0-$50,000. The midrange is $200,000-$350,000. The highest values are among $1,000,000-$3,000,000. The black dot represents our site location. The Kappa Achievement Park site falls under the lowest home value category.

Average Home Value

The bar graph compares the average value of a Raleigh home to North Carolina, The Unites States, and other cities. Raleigh homes are worth more than those in Miami and Omaha.

A New South Park

New luxury homes in South Park

The neighborhood is mostly black, but the new homeowners are mostly white. South Park is quickly changing as new white homeowners move into the gentrifying neighborhood. The newly built homes in this neighborhood are starting at $460,000. This price is significantly higher than Raleigh’s average home value of $315,000. In the photo above, that lot used to hold a vacant boarded up home as recent as three years ago. 33: Logan R. Cyrus

Housing Case Studies City Gardens St. Thomas/Ninth

The Arroyo

Landon Bone Baker

OJT

Koning Eizenberg

Chicago’s once beautiful Near West Side has been a challenging neighborhood since 1968 when much of the area was destroyed during the King riots. As with other such areas there continues to be a critical need for safe family housing that offers choice and a sense of place and community identity so children and families will have the opportunity to grow and flourish. As a part of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Plan Forward program, City Gardens is a full block, 76 unit mixed-income redevelopment that replaces CHA’s former Maplewood Courts, designed with strong community collaboration to address needs.

Ninth Street development is comprised of 12 homes (ten single-family and one two-family) occupying an existing warehouse and vacant parcel. The industrial zoning required large lot minimums for single-family structures. This mandated a tactic that leveraged the density allowed under multi-family developments but organized the site as single-family assemblage. The approach required a subversion of the conventional legal structure, which usually applies individual ownership to the interior of one unit, but in this case creates provisional lots and realizes autonomous ownership as espoused by the Starter Home* agenda.

This 64 unit 100% affordable inclusionary housing project is located at the edge of transit and job rich (but housing starved) Downtown Santa Monica nearby its market-rate sister project. The neighborhood is rapidly becoming more dense and design is organized around a “sticky space” concept of connecting home to street. The central courtyard follows the old arroyo which was replaced with a 9’ diameter below grade storm water drain in the 1960s. The courtyard extends into basketball halfcourt and picnic area with covered activity space. Resident serving indoor space fronts the street.

34a: Mark Ballogg, 34b: Will Crocker, 34c: Eric Staudenmaier

Kirkland Ave. Modular

Dyson Institute Dorms Villa Verde

Schemata Workshop

WilkinsonEyre

ELEMENTAL

A vanguard project in the state for modular construction, Kirkland Avenue Modular (also known as Kirkland Avenue Townhomes / KAT) are the largest publicly funded affordable housing project in Washington to be built using modular construction. The project provides fourteen (14) 2-bedroom townhomes and four (4) 3-bedroom flats for low income families and veterans. The interior layout features an open plan for kitchen, living and dining – offering ample daylight and cross ventilation. The exterior design celebrates the modular construction by featuring a split gable at the 14’ module width.

The landscaped village of timber modularhousing pods, with communal amenities and a central social and learning hub, is based within the Dyson Malmesbury Campus in Wiltshire. As well as establishing a new typology in student accommodation, the project breaks ground in the design, master planning and precision engineering of truly modular prefabricated building technologies for rapid construction. Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology is a new model of learning that integrates a higher education campus into the context of commercial industry, research and development.

For the first time, this project allowed us to think about a design for the upper niche of the housing policy. If we developed an innovative and competitive typology, we would broaden our possible contribution to social housing. We could have taken one of our own more economic typologies and used the extra money to finish them, filling the void that families were expected to complete. But we thought of once again applying the principle of incremental construction and prioritizing the more complex components, this time with higher standards both for the initial and the final scenario.

35a: Schemata Workshop, 35b: Peter Landers, 35c: Suyin Chia + Cristian Martinez

4 Sustainability Social sustainability is where infrastructure supports cultural life, social amenities, and evolving places.

Environmental sustainability includes options and alternatives for sustainable transportation.

Examples: 1. Creating places that are diverse in age, race, and wealth 2. Creating social cohesion in gathering spaces by designing to increase coincidental interactions 3. Promoting wellbeing, health, and atmosphere through connections to amenities, nature, and people 4. Considering democracy by listening to what a community wants and needs

Examples: 1. Making access to resources easier by cutting travel distance and shopping locally 2. Providing affordable eco friendly alternatives to locations that require further travel 2. Designing mixed use developments around public transit 3. Promoting biking, walking, bus riding, etc

Economic sustainability is utilizing green materials, passive systems, and new technologies like modular design. This explores how to use the least amount of carbon emission possible with materials like CLT. Modular design can be versatile in its location, build time, and cost for things like attainable housing.

Sustainability Case Studies Social Transportation

Green Materials

Earthsong-Eco Neighborhood, New Zealand

Atlantic Station, Georgia

Conceptos Plásticos - Bogota, Colombia

Social sustainability combines design of the physical realm with design of the social world – infrastructure to support social and cultural life, social amenities, systems for citizen engagement, and space for people and places to evolve. The 32 households of Earthsong are made up of residents of all ages and a range of ethnic groups and economic circumstances. They each have a self-contained home, and they own and share extensive communal facilities with the entire community. There are weekly communal meals, a shared vegetable garden, childcare services and carpooling to foster an atmosphere of respect and cooperation.

Atlantic Station was developed to help mitigate urban sprawl and reduce air pollution by allowing many more people to live and work within walking distance of everyday necessities, with many alternative transportation options nearby. The proposed Beltline transit/greenway project is expected to pass within a few miles of the development. It combines a mix-use development of retail and housing with sustainable transportation. All while creating a central community where there are a multitude of events held in the central green space, from yoga classes and socials for neighbors dogs to being used as a music venue and a place to hold cultural events.

Conceptos Plásticos managed to patent its system of bricks and pillars made of recycled plastic. They are put together like LEGO pieces in a construction system that allows two story houses to be built in five days. The base for the material is obtained from popular recyclers and factories that discard tons of plastic daily. Using an extrusion process, the plastic is melted and emptied into a final mold to create a three-kilo brick (6.6 lbs). When assembled under pressure, the bricks insulate heat and have additives that retard combustion. Additionally, they are thermo-acoustic and earthquake-resistance which are to code for Colombia, taking into account the country’s high levels of seismic activity.

38a: Peter Scott, 38b: Atlantic Station, 38c: Conceptos Plásticos

Green Design

Modular Design

Creek

Lideta Mercato, Ethiopia

Student Housing - Hamburg, Germany

Dockside Green, Canada

The Lideta Mercato was intended to be a built like the common shopping mall with glazing structures that result in uncomfortable thermal conditions and interior overillumination. Xavier Vilalta’s new facade utilizes a lightweight concrete prefabrication system, and the shapes come from traditional Ethiopian fractal pattern commonly found in the local fabrics. The passive ventilation system and controlled natural lighting created between the building´s skin and the interior atrium enables the interior space to have an open-air feeling and balanced lighting. The excess funds were used to purchase solar panels the cover the majority of this building’s roof.

The prefabricated cross laminated timber (CLT) modules of this student dormitory in Hamburg were developed in close cooperation between the architect, client, and the module manufacturer to build the 371 housing unit building in 8 months . A manageable number of design details and the restriction of two module types made this efficient and inexpensive building possible. All of the modules were prefabricated as completed units with all interior work done. A maximum of four modules can be produced per day. Modular design using CLT construction produces higher quality products, shortens the construction timeline, and is more economical in the long run.

Dockside Green has a centralized biomass gasification plant that converts waste wood into heating gas for hot water and heat, with peak period support from natural gas boilers. Biomass generation makes Dockside Green carbon neutral in greenhouse gas production. The development treats its sewage using treated water for its irrigation, creek and pond system. Dockside Green has a car sharing program, a planned dock for the harbor ferries, and bicycle racks and showers for people commuting to the development’s commercial areas. Bike access is linked into the region’s Galloping Goose regional cycling trail.

39a: Gonzalo Guajardo, 39b: Sauerbruch Hutton, 38c: Bosa Development

The Solution?

designing the process the solution... the community After engaging in research and conversation with locals, we understood that there has been a large disconnect between developers and the community. Part of this disconnect stems from designers and developers coming into the community with prescribed solutions rather than an openness to listen. In an effort to truly engage with the community, we created a design process that starts and ends with the community. The design model shifts away from profit-driven development to create a more equitable community and help fight gentrification.

HOMEOWNERSHIP POLICY CHANGE

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPACE

MISSING MIDDLE

HOUSING

RETAINING AND GROWING

STABILIZING THE COMMUNITY PLACEMAKING

REINFORCING CULTURE AND IDENTITY NEED BASED INVESTMENT

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT CEMENTING HISTORY

CELEBRATING CULTURE INTERGENERATIONAL EDUCATION

Promoting people-driven development, our design goals can be broken down into three main categories:

stabilizing the community

Stabilizing the community focuses on the present by advocating for the current community. This can be done through pushing for policy change, retaining and growing homeownership through education and small scale need based investment. An initial focus on stabilization builds trust with the community and a strong foundation to move forward.

reinforcing culture and identity

Reinforcing culture and identity should be incorporated throughout the entire project. This comes through celebrating culture and cementing history. Continually celebrating culture creates a sense of place and belonging for residents.

community investment

Community investment is the future thinking element. Community investment is long term solutions and opportunities that enrich and serve the needs of the community. Investment includes but is not limited to space for intergenerational education, entrepreneurial space, placemaking and missing middle housing.

A people-driven model of development The model above is a cyclical design process that requires continual stakeholder engagement, similar to the tech industry’s method of agile management (one of the fastest evolving industries in the world). In community developments, the key stakeholders should be the community. It is necessary to create a space where everyone’s voice can be heard, this gives power and dignity to the people. City-growth and gentrification are rapidly evolving problems and require solutions that are adaptable over time, the model also includes phases to promote flexibility and the opportunity to investigate the success of the project.

project start derived from a need within the community

key goals: to build trust and stabilize the community

To start a project, there must be a need expressed within the community. It is essential to build trust and stabilize the community where the project is taking place. To stabilize the present, their immediate needs should be addressed. Be open to non-architectural solutions for their immediate needs. This includes but is not limited to policy change and education.

policy change examples

importance of education

Reclassifying the project’s neighborhoods as a historic neighborhood helps preserve the area from further gentrification and gain access to beautification funds.

Educational efforts can help retain and grow homeownership. Homeownership is beneficial to generational wealth and long term financial stability.

Creating policy that requires public engagement on new developments creates room for multiple voices to be heard and more stories to be shared.

community engagement giving power back to the people

key goals: to listen

Why is community engagement important? Creating room at the design table is one of the largest problems within city growth and development. Additionally, under-served areas and communities with the greatest need are continually excluded from the conversation. A design process that is centered around engagement gives power back to the community.

on-going process

ways to engage

Community engagement should be interwoven into the entire design process. Listening allows one to learn, enhance, and build up the community. In order to achieve equitable and sustainable growth, new developments need to listen to people. Neighbors, residents, and communities give crucial insight into the needs of the area. Before one can design for a community, it is essential to listen and understand them first.

The following can be used to learn the appropriate information at any step the design process: - story telling - casual conversations - interviews (formal/informal) - world building session - community events to create space for conversation - cultural events (art, music, food, etc) - staging the site - small scale interventions

Great turnout at the State of the City Address

Community Engagement in Practice On July 25th, 2021, we were invited to share our new people-driven design process and inequitable development research at Raleigh’s State of the City Address. The address was part of a seven-night public lecture series on how design can affect change in our communities. Members from all around the city gathered and were able to engage with our research. Residents asked us questions about our work, and many left comments on sticky notes to respond to our research anonymously. We received honest and diverse feedback from the community. 48

Summer Scholar Kenneth Hicks sharing research on Raleigh’s development patterns

Raleigh residents learning about the inequitable development patterns in their city.

Raleigh residents learning about the disinvestment patterns in Southeast Raleigh.

design in response to the community

key goals: to develop a design that is responsive to the client/community

Design to build trust with the client/community. Design to make their voices heard, and provide multiple options that create space for conversation. The options will help navigate client/community’s aspirations and design goals at a pace they are comfortable with.

programming

phasing

masterplan

The program of the project should be client and community driven. Pair the desires of the client with the needs of the community.

Developing an appropriate phasing plan that is responsive and flexible. Based on community insight, determine what needs to be done first and how the site development can be flexible in the future.

The goal of stage one of a people driven design process is to create a masterplan for the site. This plan should address scale, programming, phasing, and flexibility/adaptability

share scenarios create opportunities for feedback

key goals: to build a common vision

Sharing the design scenarios with the client/community reinforces the cyclical process of people driven design, After this step, the cycle loops back to community engagement before designing and sharing ideas again. This process creates opportunities for feedback and allows everyone be at design table. Continually sharing ideas and engaging with the community builds a responsive masterplan.

Raleigh resident sharing his thoughts on what community investment looks like.

Raleigh resident sharing her thoughts on what community investment looks like.

stage 2: phasing process employed to restrain drive through development

key goals: to create a flexible growth model for the community

Stage Two is the construction stage. It is a cyclical process made up of designing, building, and engaging with the client/community. A complete cycle of those steps is defined as one phase. The cyclical process provides a period to assess the impacts of each phase. What were the outcomes? Were the initial goals of the phase met? Were there any unintentional outcomes? How do we move forward?

define phasing Phasing is a process of iterative design and community engagement to pace the development to be socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable. This allows community reflection and changes over time to the design to create a flexible model for growth.

This Opportunity: defining community The Kappa Achievement Park is a 9.52 acre site that is located roughly 3 miles (ten minute drive) east of Downtown Raleigh. It was purchased by the Kappa Charitable Trust Fund, inc in September 2003 for the Kappa Alpha Psi Raleigh Alumni Chapter. The property is situated in a vibrant part of the city near Bugg Magnet Elementary School, Worthdale Park, Wake Med Hospital, and the Sherwood Forest/Worthdale neighborhoods.

RALEIGH

NEIGHBORHOOD

KAPPA ALPHA PSI

Raleigh Analysis

Location of Future Developments

Walnut Creek System

Historic Oakwood

Greenway Trail System

Southeast Raleigh

Flood Plains

Raleigh Beltline One common division of Raleigh is to differentiate the central part of the city, which lies inside of the circumferential highway known as the Raleigh Beltline (I-440 and I-40) from areas outside of the beltline. The area inside of the beltline includes the entirety of the central business district known as Downtown Raleigh, as well as several more residential areas surrounding it. Within this zone is range of physical features that define land price, and ethnic/racial distribution.

65: The City of Raleigh

Raleigh’s skyline in 1909

Raleigh’s skyline in 2021 66

66a: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Washington,DC, 66b: Downtown Raleigh Alliance

Neighborhood Analysis

Kappa Achievement Park is embedded in a neighborhood near Bugg Elementary and Worthdale Community Center. 69

5 Minute Walk Radius

The 1/4 mile radius shows all the places one could walk to within 5 minutes. This includes Worthdale Community Center and Bugg Magnet Elementary School.

Transportation

City bus routes 18 and 19 (shown in pink) provide public transportation to and from the site. There is also a greenway (shown in black) along the south end.

Stormwater Drainage

The site and surrounding neighborhoods are in a lowlying area of Raleigh. The site’s creek helps move stormwater to the end zone basin.

Residential vs. Public

The site is clearly embedded into a residential area (shown in grey). It has access to public spaces (shown in pink) on the southeastern side.

Kappa Alpha Psi brothers celebration

The Alpha Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi in 1913

Project Partners: Kappa Alpha Psi The history of the Kappa Alpha Psi Raleigh Alumni Chapter (RAC) is one steeped in tradition, high ideals, and achievement. This chapter is a part of the national chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi. William Capehart, Thomas Conway Sr., Dr. Cecil Haliburton, Leonard B. Hardie, Harry Gil-Smythe, Glenwood Jones, W.M. Perry, William T. “Buddy” Stroud, Dr. M. Watts, and L.L. Woods came together to form RAC. On April 6th, 1948, these 10 men obtained the charter from the Grand Chapter in order to form RAC. The Raleigh Alumni Chapter has been serving the greater Raleigh community since April 1948. RAC has established a rich tradition of service to our youth and 72

community. They welcome new brothers and inactive members to renew their interest to “come home to Kappa”. The Raleigh Alumni Chapter has over 90 brothers and members. RAC also supports three undergraduate chapters: 1. Gamma Omicron 2. Delta Gamma 3. Kappa Xi chapters Chapter Leadership + Programs Polemarch Clem Lacy headed the RAC 20192020 Board of Directors, and his year was when they first committed to locally carrying out the national theme of: “Brother To Brother, Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges.” The Raleigh Alumni also participate in and provide

various programs. From Adopt-a-Highway to recognizing outstanding citizens in the greater Raleigh area, the RAC is making a difference through its programming and events. The Kappa Center The RAC currently has one small single story building on their site called the Kappa Center. It is managed by the Kappa Charitable Trust Fund, Inc. The Kappa Center can be rented out for workshops, weddings, company meetings, birthday parties, social events or outdoor gatherings.

72a-c: Kappa Alpha Psi

Kappa Alpha Psi’s Real Men Read Program

Wanzo F. Hendrix with Raleigh’s Kappa Center sign

Kappa Alpha Psi chapter at NC State University

Kappa Achievement Park The Kappa Achievement Park site is located in Southeast Raleigh. It currently only has one building (circled in pink) on it that serves as the Kappa Center. The Raleigh chapter uses it for meetings, events, scholarship receptions, etc. The Kappa Charitable Trust Fund bought the 9.52 acres of land in 2003. The land holds a lot of historic and emotional significance as it used to hold the Worthdale Community Pool. The community pool was only for the white residents, and their black neighbors were not allowed to use the pool or cut through the site in any way.

73a-c: Kappa Alpha Psi

Site Analysis

Flood Prone soil

Current and Future Access Points

Buildable Area

Tree Canopy

Site Analysis The Walnut Creek system splits the site in half with a creek. It funnels the water down to the end zone south of the site. A 50 ft setback on either side of the creek creates a natural linear park through the site that can be utilized for greenway trails and walkable gardens. The surrounding context reveals a “public-private” distribution of zones with more private programs to the north and public to the south. The Worthdale Community Center on the southern edge of the site acts as a public extension of the site by providing amenities and green space. 76

a b c

Site Topography From north to south the site measures at 1,120 feet long. In this distance from north to south it drops around 40 feet in elevation with the lowest drops running along the center and sides of the creek. The trees on this site range from between 90 and 120 feet tall.

Zoning Study

Density Study

Total Site Area: 414,691 sq ft (9.52 acres) Total Buildable Area: 251,625 sq ft (5.77 acres) The Summer Scholars researched what the maximum building density would look like on the site under different zoning restrictions. The study considers setbacks, required square footage per building type, and how these buildings could be organized to provide a visual of the different density footprints. Ideally, the site’s current R4 zoning would be changed to NX-mixed use zoning to most efficiently use buildable area and scale down the natural open space to be more pedestrian friendly.

A Kit of Parts:

the essence that organizes A Kit of Parts is a collection of ideas that organizes a development. The components of our Kit of Parts are Live, Engage, and Gather. These three ideas are flexible within each other to provide the right tools for a community to grow with a city. We will show how the interplay and layering of these parts create space for the community, reinforce their culture and identity, and how to invest in themselves.

COMPONENTS OF EQUITABLE DESIGN

“

A kit of parts is a strategy for growth that is centered on community voice as a tool to create a space to live, engage, and gather through a series of flexible parts that fuse together. Equitable design is achieved by stabilizing the community, reinforcing culture and identity, and long-term investment.

” 87

Program Diagram A program diagram was developed using the sites specific features and rhythms along with the three essential development parts (Engage, Gather, and Live). Using the existing influences of the site the project can be flexible yet still hold a sense of place.

Regulating lines

Density

Arrival

Greenway

Movement

Connectivity

Community Kit of Parts There is an absence of gathering spaces in Southeast Raleigh. This causes the residents to find other places to go to that are outside of their community. When the residents leave, the vitality and money goes with them. Mixed-use program and event space aim to bring community investment and stabilization back to the Kappa Achievement Park and Southeast Raleigh.

Southern Activation The southern end of the site along Little John Road has great potential to invite the community into the space for gathering, playing, and socializing. A community stage and event center suggest ways to stabilize and invest in the community, while reinforcing their culture and identity. These spaces provide services for people to teach, learn, and connect.

Placemaking Mixed use spaces give the community opportunities to get together.

Gathering Kappa Alpha Psi gather for chapter meetings, events, cookouts, and more.

Celebrating Kappa Alpha Psi celebrates their community through scholarship receptions.

Teaching

Kappa Alpha Psi supports intergenerational education through their Real Men Read program.

Space in Between Kit of Parts The space in between buildings becomes an extension of the community and housing programs creating an interlocked set of public experiences. Metaphorical and physical bridging occurs aiding in the occupants interaction with the site and community members.

Connecting Connect neighborhoods to the site through a series of green spaces and nature trails.

Fitness

The open space of the corridor could become a unique place for an outdoor gym, training track, rock climbing wall, and etc. This would allow the corridor to be a space for active program.

100

Art + Culture

Art and culture naturally find their way to the space between buildings. The walls serve as a great canvas for murals, art, projections, etc. The passageway can also be a place where one can host exhibitions, workshops, and lectures.

Play

A variety of games and structures can turn the corridor space into an exciting and playful space for all ages. It would be a safe, fun, and open air playground.

Inviting

Stabilize the present community by inviting them to a new way to access existing public amenities and services.

101

Housing Kit of Parts The Window, Kitchen, Porch, and Courtyard become the components that make up the housing units on the site. These parts promote intergenerational teaching, cultural celebration, and placemaking through the motifs of the modern home.

102

Intergenerational Education 103

Walkability

Community space

Mixed-Income

The Missing Middle Missing middle housing describes a range of multi-family or clustered housing types. It falls between single-family homes and large multistory apartment buildings. It is comparable in scale to single-family and transitional neighborhoods. Missing middle housing is intended to meet the demand for walkable neighborhoods and ample community space. They should also respond to changing demographics and provide housing at different price points. Within this site, the missing middle scale manifests 104

itself into a range of scalar experiences for the occupant. Parts and unit types are interchangeable creating a range of stacked and assorted orientations.

Mixed-use

The Housing Units The kit of parts for living come in many different sizes and are flexible in their layouts, The units range from studio to 4 bedrooms and can be arranged into duplexes, townhouses, mixed use, etc. The housing units are able to create a variety of organizations that are flexible to include courtyards, gardens and community space.

105

Meeting A series of outdoor porches and balconies encourage inter-generational education. The staggering effect allows residents to meet their neighbors, socialize, and gather.

106

View into a courtyard 107

Gardening + Cooking Shared spaces for gardening and cooking celebrate different cultures through food and gathering.

108

109

Non-Conclusion:

where we are now + next steps

110

PRAGMATISM AND DREAMS

PROVOCATEUR?

WHAT IS AN ARCHITECT’S ROLE?

WHAT MAKES AN IDEA? IS IT EXPANDING?

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE AN IMPACT? WHAT MAKES AN IDEA BIG?

DESIGN THE PROCESS

111

Non-Conclusion Within the constraints of the “real world” comes a balance of pragmatism and dreams, None of which become concrete within any short span of time. Time becomes essential to the process and is fundamental for whether this project becomes a successful display of development or another story of unsettling, unfair, and unjust gentrification. The goal of this research project was not to prescribe a building - given the immense power that the built environment has over social, environmental and economic standings. It was about designing a new approach to development. The Summer Scholars hope that their research and design model can serve as a resource for the future of development. A future that does not treat community engagement as a step in the process but as the process. The vital role that the community plays in the design process is simple and complex, but with complexity should come flexibility, and with simplicity must come impactfulness. 112

Designers must create an atmosphere as a framework for the community to play, engage, ideate, and scratch off. The Scholars took the old model of development and turned it on its head. As the community moves forward with a project, their goals may shift with the ever changing fabric of fast growing cities. This makes it even more important for a development model to establish order without losing flexibility within its structure. The community will discover that the initial framework for engagement and conversation becomes the structure for the project. Community engagement is a cyclical process in all project stages. It has the power to influence the feedback as well as control the demographic that is held within it. Therefore, a neutral middle ground is necessary for these conversations to nurture. The collective need for spatial comfort creates an opportunity for a series of permanent or impermanent structures to house community engagement sessions. In regards to the strategy of exploratory

design and dreaming to build a common vision - despite the unforeseeable vernacular specificity of each program and building - a carefully designed framework of circulation that reacts to the permanent elements of the site would start to create an armature to help influence the design of later phases. This gives the community a set piece to respond to which fosters the continuity of new and old authorship of the specific site. In Non-Conclusion, challenging the notion of big ideas come in the form of questions. What makes an idea? What makes an idea big? What does big mean? These questions are iterated upon in Rem Koolhaas’ essay “Bigness or the Problem of Large”. He states, “Of all possible categories, Bigness does not seem to deserve a manifesto; discredited as an intellectual problem, it is apparently on its way to extinction – like the dinosaur – through clumsiness, slowness, inflexibility, difficulty. But in fact, only Bigness instigates the regime of complexity that mobilizes the full intelligence of architecture and its related fields.”

“

But in fact, only bigness instigates the regime of complexity that mobilizes the full intelligence of architecture and its related fields. Rem Koolhaas

” 113

Acknowledgments

114

Special Thanks: Adam Schultz Ashley Montgomery Austin Chappell Clark Rinehart David Keith David Hill Elizabeth Morgan Jordan Gray Kappa Alpha Psi Raleigh Alumni Chapter Kemah Washington Nick Neptune Nick Rossitch Rhett Fussell Rob Reis Wesley Page William H. Dodge

115

Sources Southeast Raleigh History ( 14-17) https://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/albums/with/72157666781993290 https://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/albums/72157666781993290 https://tclf.org/places/view-city-and-regional-guides/raleigh-durham/raleigh-durhams-african-american-cultural https://www.oakcityproperties.com/the-pros-and-cons-to-living-inside-the-raleigh-beltline-itb/ Demographics + Patterns (18-27) https://datausa.io/profile/geo/raleigh-nc/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/albums/72157626354149574/with/5559868303/ https://tclf.org/places/view-city-and-regional-guides/raleigh-durham/raleigh-durhams-african-american-cultural https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/27/upshot/diversity-housing-maps-raleigh-gentrification.html https://indyweek.com/news/voices/east-raleigh-is-worth-more-to-the-city-than-the-black-lives-on-it/ Housing (28-35) https://abc11.com/raleigh-homes-housing-market-zillow-north-carolina-nc/10663087/ https://bestneighborhood.org/best-neighborhoods-raleigh-nc/ https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR22/2019DataBook.pdf https://user-2081353526.cld.bz/2030ComprehensivePlanUpdate https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/27/upshot/diversity-housing-maps-raleigh-gentrification.html https://opticosdesign.com/ https://www.schemataworkshop.com/kirkland-avenue-modular https://www.wilkinsoneyre.com/projects/dyson-institute-of-engineering-and-technology https://decortips.com/homes/alejandro-aravena-and-his-social-housing-philosophy/ https://www.kearch.com/the-arroyo https://www.officejt.com/projects/st-thomas-and-ninth https://www.landonbonebaker.com/work/city-gardens/ Sustainability (36-39) https://www.esg.adec-innovations.com/about-us/faqs/what-is-social-sustainability/ 116

https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/cap-stat-social-web.pdf https://diversity.social/social-sustainability/ https://usgreentechnology.com/10-ways-the-transportation-industry-can-bemore-sustainable/ https://www.asla.org/sustainabletransportation.aspx https://transportation.ncsu.edu/bicycling/ https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/materials-used-and-principles-green-architecture.php https://atlanticstation.com/ https://thinkbosa.com/project/docksidegreen/ https://vilalta.studio/en/portfolio-item/lideta-mercato/ https://www.archdaily.com/944258/universal-design-quarter-in-hamburg-sauerbruch-hutton http://conceptosplasticos.com/conceptos-social.html Raleigh Analysis (64-67) https://www.visitraleigh.com/plan-a-trip/visitraleigh-insider-blog/post/first-fridays-in-raleigh-nc/ https://wellrec.dasa.ncsu.edu/outdoor-adventures/destinations-and-resources/raleigh-destinations/ Neighborhood Analysis (68-73) https://earth.google.com https://kappaalphapsi1911.com/page/History https://www.kappacharitabletrustfund.org/aboutus http://capitalcitykappas.com/about-rac/https://capitalcitykappas.com/kctf/ Site Analysis (74-83) https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer. html?webmap=bb2f2ffd28194394ae1a636483d647bc&extent=-79.0484,35.5868,-78.0343,36.0422 https://user-2081353526.cld.bz/UnifiedDevelopmentOrdinance Non-Conclusion (110-113) S,M,L,XL by O.M.A, Rem Koolhaas, and Bruce Mau 117

Check out our 2021 AIA Film Challenge video!

118

A Place to Belong Raleigh, North Carolina is undergoing rapid growth, benefiting the wealthy, affluent, incoming transplants and displacing those who call the city home. The Kappa Alpha Psi Raleigh Alumni Chapter, Trailblaze Development, and Hanbury Architecture have teamed up to challenge inequitable growth in Raleigh, promoting development that is people-driven instead of profit-driven. The idea behind Kappa Achievement Park was created in order to support the neighborhoods that have been disinvested and on the brink of displacement by engaging with the community and

responding to their needs. From early conversations with local residents, it was evident that not everyone has a safe space and sense of belonging. Kappa, Trailblaze, and Hanbury will continue to work together setting a standard for equitable and just development rooted in the community of its place.

119