19FA Studio Portfolio | Historia Ad Hoc

Historia // Ad Hoc ARCH 515 | Graduate Design Studio Fall Semester | 2019 Skyler Moncada

A comprehensive design portfolio in response to observable deficiencies in many American Lynching databases.

HISTORIA // AD HOC

Initial Research Project Context I have been working on developing a Lynching Research Collective, focused on the final databasing and categorizing of America’s last unknown victims of lynching between 1870 - 1981.

My research began with an investigation of the history of slavery and the paths associated with Triangular Trade, The Middle Passage, and the documentation of black bodies being traded across the Atlantic.

Following this, I developed an interest in the “after” of the slave trade. I wanted to understand what life was like for slaves, freed individuals, and minority groups in the United States. I knew that they had and in some places continue to suffer from racially charged acts of violence, but I also wanted to know what teh communities inciting this violence looked like.

In short, I wanted to study lynchings.

And once I started, I couldn’t stop. So it goes that, in the end, my project would develop into a design philosophy at an urban scale to begin to

3

Memory Box Recognizing History The United States has a complicated history of distancing ourselves from the ethnic genocides we have committed on our own soil. In the Southern states, lynchings are often downplayed or not taught at all.

Alternatively, in Northern States, lynchings are taught as a Southern problem, which only happened to black people, and only involved hangings.

My memory box, serving as the inspiration for my cognitive poster, involved looking through a thin oculus at an uncomfortable angle to see through cutout bodies of lynched and beaten souls photographed in history, with the cutouts displaying the name and lynching date of the individuals. They could be removed one at a time, providing a face and body to the name.

In this way, they became physical and real as you hold the body of someone long passed on.

Removing enough of them from the slats in the box, your vision becomes unobscured and allows you to look in and see the message displayed on the right, through a hazy light provided by a screening system and translucent paper.

We Smiled About it Once

5

Cognitive Map the middle passage

the middle passage | never ended

never ended

Research on the pathways of slaves trafficking through the Middle Passage lead to the disturbing revelation that arriving in the Americas was not the end of a slave’s journey.

EUROPE

They were forced on long marches through rough jungle in South America, or landed in Virginia and distributed up the East Coast.

1

My cognitive map was an attempt to address the pathways these slaves were transported on related to data collected by Slave Voyages.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

A B

UNITED STATES

C

AFRICA

D E F G

Visualization

Graphic legend

timeline of study

Major ports

1500 - 1870

Coastline

370 Years 4 Continents 10 Major Countries

terraformed density

20,528 voyages 12.5 million bodies

trans-atlantic scope

High relative density of bodies in transit

Low relative density of bodies in transit

1.8 million casualities of transit

trans-atlantic slave trade Cognitive map

Emotional Map patriotism

patriotism | a la carte

a la carte

The emotional map to the left illustrates a response from the living following lynchings, establishing a focus on the expressions and gatherings rather than the event.

By intentionally removing the victims, it is my hope that you will read this description, and then return to these photos understanding that in each, a life has been extinguished.

The emotions displayed are in the immediate vicinity of their victims.

(Singing) Southern trees bear a strange growth. Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots. Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze. Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South: the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth. Smell of magnolias, sweet and fresh, then the sudden smell of burning flesh. Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for the tree to drop. Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Visualization The emotional map above illustrates a response from the living following lynchings, establishing a focus on the expressions and gatherings rather than the event.

By intentionally removing the victims, it is my hope that you will read this description, and then return to these photos understanding that in each, a life has been extinguished.

The emotions displayed are in the immediate vicinity of their victims.

American lynchings

timeline of study

1870 - 1968 4,743 lynchings reported 3,446 victims were African American 73% Occurred in Southern States No accurate statistic exists to determine how many individuals were ever

moral exceptionalism Emotional map

held legally accountable for lynchings during this time period.

7

Precedent Analyses / Interview

Montages

the Grim

Oaklawn Cemetery Mass Grave Memorial

Thin Sentinel The Wilmington Record AAHMW | Museum

9

3LB // Memphis TN 38126 SITE DEFINITION Potential Site (Well Established) SITING EVENT People’s Grocery Lynching DATE 9 March 1892 VICTIMS Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, Will Stewart STORY (PER HISTORIC MARKER)

Site Investigations

Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart, all African-Americans and co-owners of People’s Grocery (located at this site), were arrested in connection with a disturbance near their store. Rather than being brought to trial, they were lynched on March 9, 1892. Moss’ dying words were, “Tell my people to go west--there is no justice for them here.” This lynching prompted Ida B. Wells, editor of Memphis Free Speech, to begin her anti-lynching campaign in this country and abroad.

The site in Memphis is defined as 3 Lynched Bodies (3LB), and is across the road from the People’s Grocery where the arrest and subsequent kidnapping of the co-owners took place.

The underutilized parking lot holds roughly 2500m2 of land bordering a residential zone.

It is flanked on its North and East boundaries by main roads, while its Southern boundary is concealed by old growth trees, and its Western boundary is adjacent to a Shotgun home.

The site proposal would introduce a building footprint of 260m2 to 580m2 for the Community Research Center.

The parking lot footprint will be reduced from 50 parking spots to 25 (estimated for high traffic), Wildflower Memory Garden will be introduced, and the Community Research Center will define their boundaries.

This site would support efforts in AL, MI, and TN.

14+LB // Wilmington, NC 28401 SITE DEFINITION Potential Site (Well Established) SITING EVENT Wilmington Daily Record DATE 10 November 1898 VICTIMS 14-60 Fatalities STORY (PER HISTORIC MARKER) Armed white mob met at armory here. Nov. 10, 1898.

Marched six blocks and burned office of Daily Record, black-owned newspaper. Violence left untold numbers of African Americans dead. Led to overthrow of city government & installation of coup leader as mayor. Was part of a statewide political campaign based on calls for white supremacy and the exploitation of racial prejudice.

The site in Wilmington is defined as 14+ Lynched Bodies (14+LB), and is down the road from the former Wilmington Daily Record, where the start of America’s first coup took place, starting with the burning of the black owned paper, ending with a puppet government.

The disputed side lots hold roughly 10,000m2 of land within a residential zone.

It is flanked on its East and West boundaries by main side yards, while its Northern and Southern boundary is concealed by overgrown landscape and homes.

The site proposal would introduce a building footprint of 260m2 to 580m2 for the Community Research Center. Typologically, this may be doubled to integrate a courtyard.

A Wildflower Memory Garden will be introduced in the courtyard, and the Community Research Center will define their boundaries.

This site would support efforts in VI, SC, GA.

11

100+LB // Tulsa, OK 74120 SITE DEFINITION Potential Site (Well Supported Ancillary) SITING EVENT Tulsa Race Riots, Proximity to Mass Grave DATE 31 May 1921 – 1 June 1921 VICTIMS 36 (1921 Records) Est. 100-300 STORY (PER ABBRV. HISTORIC MARKER) The Tulsa race riot of 1921 was the single worst incident of racial violence in American history. It began after Dick Rowland, a nineteen-year-old African American shoe shiner, was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a young white elevator operator.

Block by block, house by house, white Tulsans invaded Greenwood, broke into and looted homes and businesses, and then set them on fire.

By the end of the day, Greenwood had been destroyed.

The site in Tulsa is defined as 100+ Lynched Bodies (100+LB), and is across the road from the Oaklawn Cemetery, a public burial ground suspected of hosting a mass grave.

The several underutilized lots totals roughly 3550m2 of land bordering a residential zone.

It is flanked on its North and East boundaries by main roads, while its Southern boundary is concealed by old growth trees, and its Western boundary is adjacent to a Shotgun home.

The site proposal would introduce a building footprint of 260m2 to 580m2 for the Community Research Center. This may be doubled or tripled depending on the presence of the mass grave or information to be processed.

A Wildflower Memory Garden will be introduced, and the Community Research Center will define their boundaries. This garden, and care of the graveyard / mass grave may be undertaken by staff at this facility.

This site would support efforts in TX, MI, AK, KS.

4LB // Monroe, GA 30655 SITE DEFINITION Potential Site (Established, Poor Ancillary) SITING EVENT Moore’s Ford Bridge Lynching, Victim’s Grave DATE 25 July 1946 (America’s Last Lynching) VICTIMS George & May Dorsey, Roger & Dorothy Malcolm STORY (PER HISTORIC MARKER) 2.4 miles east, at Moore’s Ford Bridge on the Apalachee River, four African-Americans - George and May Murray Dorsey and Roger and Dorothy Dorsey Malcom (reportedly 7 months pregnant) were brutally beaten and shot by an unmasked mob on the afternoon of July 25, 1946. The lynching followed an argument between Roger Malcom and a local white farmer. These unsolved murders played a crucial role in both President Truman’s commitment to civil rights legislation and the ensuing modern civil rights movement. In 1998, a biracial memorial service honoring the victims was held at Moore’s Ford Bridge.

The site in Memphis is defined as 4 Lynched Bodies (4LB), and is on-site adjacent to the Zion Hill cemetery where the late May Murray Dorsey was buried.

This is an atypical site: The poorly maintained slave cemetery holds roughly 4300m2 of land bordering a residential zone, within an office park.

It is flanked on its North South, and West boundaries by asphalt roads, which have been potentially built over grave sites. Meanwhile, its Eastern boundary is concealed by low rise office buildings, and the site itself is covered by dense vegetation and overgrown brush/ivy.

The site proposal would introduce a building footprint of 260m2 to 580m2 for the Community Research Center. This is may be extended depending on the scope of maintenance work.

A Wildflower Memory Garden will be introduced on the periphery, and the Community Research Center will take over grounds keeping for the site.

This site would mainly support local efforts.

13

HISTORIA // AD HOC Historia

Historia // AD HOC is a project devised to address the issues of memory in the United States with regards to our shameful history of lynchings.

// noun investigation, inquiry, researching, accounting (for), description (of), writing of history, defining historical narrative, recording knowledge of past events, and shaping the perceptions of the future.

AD HOC // adverb when necessary or needed.

// verb (of a mob) kill (someone), especially by hanging, for an alleged offense with or without a legal trial.

Design Approach

But we don’t; or rather, we would prefer not to.

According to our myriad databases, the United States of America, within a 70 year period, completed about 4,000 lynchings across the country.

During the East St. Louis Race Riots of 1919, between 40 and 250 African Americans were killed before the peace was restored.

Lynching

“For an hour and a half last evening I saw the massacre of helpless negroes at Broadway and Fourth Street, in downtown East St. Louis, where black skin was death warrant.”

Patriotism A La Carte

One need only search for /lynchings/ in google for hundreds of thousands of photos, videos, articles, and research to become available.

ABOUT 4,000 BETWEEN 40 and 250 These values are not good enough. They do not account for all the lost. Many names are dust.

More towns have forgotten their own roles.

The way forward for both : Historia // AD HOC.

Potential Sites

Patriotism A La Carte

Potential Sites

Major AOI

Existing Museums

Existing AOI

Well Established Sites

Moderate AOI

Poorly Equipped Sites

Low AOI

Supplementary Network

UNEARTHING LOCALIZED EVENTS

DEVELOPING A RESEARCH COLLECTIVE

PROVIDING LOCALIZED RESOURCES

Each individual site has been located by researching local lynching histories in various townships.

Potential Sites are spaces defined by and in proximity to localized events.

Provided that each site was eventually utilized, it would begin to develop a network working towards the most complete, centralized database of American Lynchings.

After locating these sites, research is compiled on each individual location to determine their existing infrastructure to support a piece of the research collective.

Existing Museums define sites that present powerful possibilities, but have likely covered the subject matter themselves.

Sites are then sub-categorized.

Well Established Sites lack museums but present a strong community that has dealt with, or began to deal with their past.

Poorly Equipped Sites simply lack convenient ancillary support.

Coverage of townships and cities would be completed between multiple chapters, collaborating fill in the blanks in our research history.

This collective national effort, housed in neighborhoods, will begin a process of providing every single victim with peace.

Monroe, GA

Tulsa, OK

Wilmington, NC

Memphis, TN

SITE STUDIES

15

ADMIN SPACE .2X m2

ARCHIVES

OFFICES

EXHIBIT CREATION

COMMUNITY CENTER

System Logic

.3X m2

COMMUNITY CENTER

RESEARCH & THEATRE

EXHIBIT SPACE

ARTIFACTS

MUSEUM .5X m2

ARCHIVES

NETWORKING

SHOTGUN HOUSE TYPOLOGY

SITE | Context

Area features strong southern vernacular architecture.

Shotgun is common within this residential sphere.

CONFORM | Blend

Utilize a recognizable form to house the collective.

Blending into residential context prevents alienation.

ORIENT | Define Site

Reposition collective to better utilize space.

Segment the site, defining zones for program.

The Shotgun House is chosen as a typology due to its contextual significance, the span of the site, and the ease of programmatic organization.

Of the homes and buildings within the immediate context of this site, 30% can be categorized within the typology of a Shotgun plan. In order to conform with local norms, this typology may be used to prevent the local community from feeling as though it is a sensational or isolated piece of new construction.

This is a place for the community to accept their history, and come together to prevent it from ever being repeated.

and affords the museum and community spaces room to grow or shrink during various events.

Additionally, the movement of users through the space can be carefully controlled, or ultimately freed depending on the context.

Explorations of windows, doors, and solar panels are being investigated in future iterations. Materials have been considered, but may be put into a catalogue of options based on the localized event inspiring the siting of this project (i.e charred cladding in relation to the burning of homes)

It cannot afford to be seen as foreign.

PROGRAM | Improve Site

MOVEMENT | Define Plan

The form works exceptionally well with the SIP panel prefabricated system, providing an interior free of obstructive columns or walls. This provides an immense amount of flexibility in plan,

A R G O PR

CO

N

TE X

M

T

Facilitate program narrative through visitor’s journey.

Provide access to all functions through the collective.

LE

G

IN

RK

PA

SC A

EN

RD

GA

Apply needed elements in proper proportion.

Focus on improving public site to better serve community.

Due to its long form, it is ideal for framing the site, providing more realistic spacial divisions for the existing and underutilized parking lot, as well as a future wildflower garden.

17

DOGTROT HOUSE TYPOLOGY

SITE | Context

Area features strong southern vernacular architecture.

Shotgun is common within this residential sphere.

CONFORM | Blend

Utilize a recognizeable form to house the collective.

Blending into resendtial context prevents alienation.

ORIENT | Define Site

Reposition collective to better utilize space.

Segment the site, defining zones for program.

The Dogtrot House is chosen as a typology due to its vernacular style, the featured through way, and the ease of programmatic organization.

Of the homes and buildings within the immediate context of this site, 50% can be categorized within the typology of a Dogtrot or standard house plan. In order to conform with local norms, this typology may be used to encourage local use of the communal gardens and porch, interacting with their local community on public land in a public project.

This is a place for the community to accept their history, and come together to prevent it from ever being repeated.

providing an interior free of extraneous structural elements. This provides an immense amount of flexibility in plan, and affords the museum and community spaces room to grow or shrink during various events.

Additionally, the movement of users through the space can be freely planned, although direct connection to the through way is encouraged, and gives users options.

Explorations of windows, doors, and solar panels are being investigated in future iterations. Materials have been considered, but may be put into a catalogue of options based on the localized event inspiring the siting of this project (i.e charred cladding in relation to the burning of homes)

It must be viewed as open and accessible.

PROGRAM | Consistent Proportions

PERFORATE | Typological Plan

Due to its condensed form within two enclosed groupings, program organization is simple. The all encompassing porch provides flexibility for placement of enclosure around the through way.

The form is flexible and encourages exploration and reflection while moving between spaces.

The form also works exceptionally well with the

SIP panel prefabricated system,

M A R G O

TE N CO

PR

X TU

R IE

N

A LI

T

ZE

Utilize Dogtrot Typology to define a communal porch.

Provide access to further program through the collective.

O

N TY M MI NI EU AD MU MUS M CO

Apply needed elements in proper proportion.

Focus on improving public site to better serve community.

HYBRID HOUSE TYPOLOGY

SITE | Context

Area features strong southern vernacular architecture.

Shotgun is common within this residential sphere.

CONFORM | Blend

Utilize a recognizeable form to house the collective.

Blending into resendtial context prevents alienation.

ORIENT | Define Site

Reposition collective to better utilize space.

Segment the site, defining zones for program.

PROGRAM | Consistent Proportions

PERFORATE | Typological Plan

Of the homes and buildings within the immediate context of this site, non can be categorized within the typology of a Hybrid house plan. However, by including vernacular stylistic elements that are immediately recognizable, it is expected that it would not be considered out of place.

This is a place for the community to accept their history, and come together to prevent it from ever being repeated. But it is not entirely unique; it is this community’s entry point into the research collective.

It must be viewed as a new community within this existing community.

placement of enclosure, but benefits from the sectioning of the site and opportunities for exterior program placement.

The form also works exceptionally well with the SIP panel prefabricated system, providing an interior free of extraneous structural elements.

This provides an immense amount of flexibility in plan, and affords the museum and community spaces room to grow or shrink during various events.

Additionally, the movement of users through the space can be more carefully controlled for various times throughout the day, with direct connection to the through way encouraged at all hours.

Explorations of windows, doors, and solar panels are being investigated in future iterations. Materials have been considered, but may be put into a catalogue of options based on the localized event inspiring the siting of this project (i.e charred cladding in relation to the burning of homes)

Due to its elongated form centered on the through way, program organization is simple. The all encompassing porch provides less flexibil for ity

M PR

O

G

R

A

R R FO PE

R IE

N

A

T

TE

Utilize Dogtrot Typology to define a communal porch.

Provide access to further program through the collective.

O

N TY M MI NI EU AD MU MUS M CO

Apply needed elements in proper proportion.

Focus on improving public site to better serve community.

The Hybrid House is devised as a typology by combining the major benefits of both the Shotgun and Dogtrot Houses. Utilizing the public through way with the clarity of organization found in the Shotgun, the Hybrid’s composition allows for the creation of an artificial courtyard through programmatic organization.

19

Z3

Z3

, Y2

,X

, Y1

,X

Z3

1A

, Y1

Z1

1A

,X

, Y1

,X

2A

2A

Z2 Y2 A

X1

Organizaiton and Detail

SPACIAL STUDIES

Z1

Typological Flexibility

, Y1

Z1

,X

2A

, Y2

,X

2B

DETAIL STUDIES (Y) RESEARCH CENTER

(Z) ADMINISTRATIVE WING

ADMIN

National Statistics Local Histor y Exhibit Flexible Dis plays Event Rec eption

COMUNE

MUSEUM

(X) MUSEUM

Community Center

Researcher Suite Data Generation Archives OďŹ ces Museum Management

Research Hall Film Room Public Classes

FURNITURE ELEMENTS 18X18XV | Small Display

Small stand for individual artifacts, models.

Small communities may have more individual items.

GRAPHICS | Variable Sheets

36x48, 36x36, 24x36, 11x17, 8.5x11 Various displays tested for fit on SIP wall panels.

30x30x60 | Large Display

Large stand / cupboard for artifact collections.

Community artifacts may come in typologies (e.g. Bibles).

18X18X18 | Seating

Small, stackable seating for flexible space use.

Ease of storage, flexible use, consider cushioning.

SURFACES | Tables

Composite saw-horse tables.

Built-in outlets, easy storage on wall racks.

PROJECTOR | Large Display

Presentations, Films, Classes, Museum Extension.

Variable uses for Community Programs.

FILING CABINET | Small Storage Fit for corners & end rack arrangements.

Primarily office use, records, etc.

ARCHIVAL CABINET A | Medium Storage Storage of books, documents 24x36 & below.

Fit for end wall SIP Panels, Type 3.

ARCHIVAL CABINET B | Large Storage

Storage of documents, collections, 36x48 & above.

Fit for side wall SIP Panel, Type 1.

21

LEGEND

4 1 | Site

2 | Cemetery 3 | First United Methodist 4 | Central Monroe 5 | American Legion 3

1

Design Proposal

2

5

Site Plan 1 : X

Floor Plan 1 : X

Cemetery Cross // Section 1 : X

23

25

27

End v1.0.0