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our shared humanity |
an exploration in complexity & connectivity through community-driven design
vea cleary
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table of contents Introduction
our shared humanity
Exploring Complexity | Form
femininity | masculinity in 3D non-cartesian design/er exulatant hero/ines in motion compacted disposability trans media
Exploring Connectivity | Reclamation
lgbtq elders residential community center lois l. bates memorial park
Exploring Complexity |Unity unity high school demographics learning styles social justice wayfinding renders
Exploring Connectivity | Living Art
werQ artists’ living-work center
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introduction | our shared humanity
Within our culture, hierarchies of oppression dictate who and what is seen as valid and valuable. This system sustains itself by dividing groups of humans and entrapping them into using those same tools of oppression against one another in order to survive. Our heros live and dance, and sometimes they fall. And often, they are never seen by the larger world as heros at all, but as lives that are disposable.
This project engages an anti-oppression framework in exploring the values of human connectivity and complexity through form, space and proxitimity. Each section represents a journey into the principles and practices of community-driven design--a process through which the needs, desires and dreams of those who will use a given space are considered first and foremost.
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exploring complexity |
form Engaging the contrasts between percieved notions and lived experiences of creative self-expresion and its relationship to survival, each element in this section represents a different departure point.
From elemental notions of gender as it relates to shape and exteriority, to the internalization of being seen as disposable while living under a service economy, each is a translation through the mechanism of form.
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femininity | masculinity in 3d |
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curve angle
crevace
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soft
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rich
hard
graceful
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Non-Cartesian Design (er) |
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A short film manifesto exploring the body as a non-Cartesian design space in which one may be uncompromising in the quest to live and represent non-dichotomous forms, existing in a dichotomous culture.
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exultant hero/ines in motion |
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Taking inspiration from legendary Voguers dancing, these forms explore motion and proximity by transforming the shapes of the dancers, using parametric computer-aided design programs. What results is something lyrical and unexpected, a strange fusion between botanics and some sort of aircraft. Enfolded within, the dancers’ forms remain, reflecting at once human expression and a cityscape, depending on the angle of the viewer.
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The traditions of queer Balls and Vogueing have roots dating back into at least the 1800s. In the 1970s, Vogueing as an artform exploded in Harlem, and spread from there all over. Nonnormative gender performance and drag, on the other hand, have played a role in cultures all around the globe, dating back to earliest recorded history.
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compacted disposability |
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Taking inspiration from the poignant beauty of stacked cubes of compacted cars at a junk yard, this field was created as a context for the earlier explorations in form in this section. Through it, I sought to express a cultural internalization of feeling disposable as workers and human beings living under a globalized service economy.
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trans media |
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A trans media strategy is one in which every level of media around a given subject or organization leads to others. Within a community-driven design process, each of those should engage & be informed
by the communities impacted by said organization. This particular trans media strategy is inspired by the double-helix structure of a strand of human DNA, and is
composed of nodes of communication (or media), groups of participants (or communities), and the information or energy flow created by communities engaging together.
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exploring connectivity |
reclamation After being in business since 1929, the Edgewater Medical Center, at 5700 N. Ashland, now sits abandoned. In 2001, it was shut down for Medicaid/Medicare fraud and massive medical misconduct. Over 85% of the patients served there were lowincome and homeless human beings from the surrounding area, and these are the same people whose lives were
taken through experimentation and medically-unnecessary operations performed so doctors could make more money. Since then, residents in the area have begun to organize, telling the city loud and clear that they want to be a part of the decision-making process for what should be done with this site.
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Concept
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This project’s vision is to support community-building, organizing, and self-determination by offering a program grounded in communitydriven design practices. Seeking out the recommendations, needs and dreams of the community involved, this program honors the hard work and values of shared green space, affordable housing, and communitycentered built form, presented by the community itself.
Photo courtesy of Google Earth
Data A 2007 Heartland Alliance study on LGBTQ elder housing and services needs found that more than 40,000 LGBTQ seniors live in the city of Chicago. These older adults are particularly susceptible to depression, substance abuse and even suicide due to isolation and sexual orientation-based discrimination. According to Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) “affordable housing for seniors is a rarity...and one offering services and support for the LGBT senior population is pretty much nonexistent.� Currently, over 50 million Americans are uninsured and have no access to affordable healthcare. The neighborhoods that surround this building, unlike Boystown, are not only among the most socio-economically, racially & religiously diverse, but are also home to the full spectrum of LGBTQ residents of all ages.
Photo by Ken Fager for American Urbex
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Community Input |
Courtesy of the Friends of West Edgewater Park
Common desire for shared green space: Intergenerational exercise Play Relaxation
Strong desire for harmonious, affordable housing
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Some kind of community center reflecting:
Needs of surrounding communities Bringing in more jobs
Ethical treatment of existing building details:
HIPPA-protected health records re-sue salvageable machinery, building materials and furniture Green ways to deal with the potentially-toxic aspects of the building sections to be demolished
INCLUSION in decision-making processes
Photo by Ken Fager for American Urbex
Proposal
To address these needs, this project proposes a multi-use plan in which the north-western portion of buildings from the existing medical complex may be re-purposed for an LGBTQ elders residential community center with affordable housing and a range of community-accessible amenties, while the larger southern-most portion of the land would be clearerd for communal park space.
Photo by Ken Fager for American Urbex
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winter gardens
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restuarant
COMMUNITY RM.
COFFEE SHOP
MARKET
BOOK SHOP
WINTER GARDENS
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WELCOME CNTR.
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health center reception
STAFF LOUNGE
PHYSICAL THERAPY
RECEPTION
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sample studio apartment
STUDIO
STUDIO
STUDIO
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1 BR. STUDIO 1 BR.
1 BR.
STUDIO COMMUNITY ROOM 1 BR.
2 BR.
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exploring complexity |
unity The glue that binds all of my work together is a commitment to building unity within and across communities. By definition, building unity is always a work in progress, and that is its genius, for it must stay real, current.
Unity is always processoriented, and for that reason, always time-based. The following project is an example of exploring what building unity through a social justice high school might look like.
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Unity High School Chicago, IL
Vea Cleary | Jenny Mallette | Liz Wontor-Leach | Julianne VĂŠlez
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Excellence Respect Service Unity Self-Discipline Honesty & Ownership
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Prompt & Prepared
Designed as a bold and complex statement in educational design, Unity High School Chicago seeks to create an environment in which way-finding--both literal and metaphorical-- is at the heart of the learning process. Seven social justice core values guide both the curriculum and its physical manifestation, creating an holistic integration of form, values and curriculum, while creating a literal guide from classroom to classroom. Developed through community-informed curriculum design at the existing Social Justice High School in Little Village, Chicago, these seven core values have been activated at Unity High School through radical pairings with each portion of the school’s curriculum (for instance, the core value of self-discipline being paired with fine arts classrooms as a guiding design principle).
Site Location: South Loop, Chicago
Next, the deeper, extended language pioneered in Little Village around each of these values has been embedded into the building’s walkways, reaffirming for students, teachers and staff each day what it means to work from a perspective of equality and compassion. Finally, each of these values has informed our building’s actual structure and the space planning within each program to reflect social justice in praxis at every level. At the heart of this social justice educational design methodology is an ongoing commitment to communication processes and consensus-building. And so, to this end, we have also created a bold typographic program designed to create an unequivocal statement that is felt on impact externally, and reified moment-tomoment within the school’s walls.
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Dining and Social Area
Dining and Social Area
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Dining and Social Area First Level
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exploring connectivity |
living art WerQ! is a collaborative space for queer artists to make, sell and LIVE their unique & resourceful creative visions. The space is based on a design concept of scintillation, or the activation of bodies or objects to sparkle or mutually refract light, caused by change or stimulation in an atmosphere. WerQ! features a community
workshop & rehearsal spaces, a research center, and ground-level exhibition & vending spaces. Further, the building houses a salon, cafe, bar and nine floors of studios, 1, 2 & 3 bedrooms. FInally, the WerQ! is capped with a grand ballroom for performances, film screenings & community events.
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WerQ!
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cafe
Adaptive re-use the grandeur | 1055 w. granville chicago full-building axonometric 81 split level grand ballroom
9 floors of residences
community workshop cafe, bar & salon
building section
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boyette salon
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bar
cafe
ground level floor plans
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bar & lounge
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ground level section/elevation
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community workshop
second level section/elevation
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community workshop open to cafe below
second level floor plans
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grand ballroom
grand ballroom section/elevation
stage
lounge
coat check
12th floor plans |grand ballroom
lounge bar
balcony
13th floor plans |grand ballroom
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reclamation | the act or process of getting something back
vearuthdesigns.com
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