Envisioning a Community for All

The research phase of the participatory-action research process conducted by Voces Ciudadanas and the Design and Urban Ecologies (DUE) graduate program from January to March raised valuable insights for the design phase of the project. Using various traditional, participatory and creative methodologies such as surveys, social mapping, oral history, and radical listening, the voices of residents, community leaders, civic groups and community orgaizations were assembled into a collective vision on how to transform the space. Overwhelmingly, the community imagined a space for education, recreation, arts, and leisure for all ages. The resulting collective vision shaped the proposal for a new program and organization in the design phase of the project which took place from March to May.

The proposals were shared and discussed at a community assembly on March 25th at Voces Ciudadanas, an online community forum on April 13th, and through individual informal conversations with community members. The goal of such discussions was to arrive at a program and spatial design that would reflect the community’s priorities, namely their desire for a collective management model to steward a transgenerational community space that unites and empowers the community.

DUE and community participants translated these complex desires into a multiuse community space run by the community, for the community to ensure local values and principles rooted in cooperation, solidarity and mutual aid stay at the hearth of this community space —Sunset Park’s Place for Arts, Activism, Culture, and Enjoyment (SPAACE).

The name, SPAACE - Sunset Park Place for Art, Activism, Culture, and Enjoyment - reflects the flexibility of the place and the range of the activities it can support. SPAACE aims to celebrate Sunset Park’s cultural diversity and embody its community’s values. A space is both a physical location and the potential of collective imagination. A space, like a canvas, can be drafted. SPAACE can serve different purposes at different times. It accommodates community members of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. SPAACE fosters a culture of inclusivity, where the growing Asian and Latinx communities can find common ground and celebrate each other’s legacies. It aims to be a place that recognizes people’s knowledge and agency to preserve the immigrant and working-class character of Sunset Park and to shape the future for the new generations to come.