SUPERALLEY

By Arseny Pekurovsky in the UMN BS in Architecture undergraduate studio 03 taught by Jennifer Newsom

The North Minneapolis Superalley project explores the relationship between urban margins and the origin of street cultures such as break and hip hop. The project defines Superalleys as spatial systems composed of alleys, vacant lots, and derelict parking areas. The Superalley has its own uses and social conventions, a separate world away from the main drag and the neighborhood. In the Broadway corridor, the Superalleys are buffers between commercial and residential zones and often function as unsanctioned community spaces, a means of colonizing unused urban turf. Superalleys provide refuge from surveillance; they represent both safety from authority and the danger of the street. The site selected for the dance center is adjacent to a Superalley system. The goal of the project is to tap into the potential of these interstitial areas to continue to support street culture, to subvert rigid systems of property-use and ownership in North Minneapolis, and to provide an alternative path toward neighborhood redevelopment and growth.