Thesis in many words

Reviving the Rust-Belt

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Renée Crown University Honors Program at Syracuse University

Yunqian Li

Candidate for Bachelor of Fine Arts and Renée Crown University Honors Spring 2020

Honors Thesis in Environmental + Interior Design Thesis Advisor: _______________________ Dennis Earle, Assistant Teaching Professor Thesis Reader: _______________________ Zeke Leonard, Assistant Professor Honors Director: _______________________ Dr. Danielle Smith, Director

Abstract According to the author Bullivant in the article “The Hyperlocal”, the survival of cities has always been dependent on the engagement of the community and the fundamental resources available. Results from various research has shown that the challenges presented by urbanization and other changes within the social context affects the retention of human resources in typical rust-belt cities. Considering the importance of community, lacking the ability to retain people as resources in turn influences the efficiency of rehabilitation. While social crises always emerge as different challenges, setting up a resilient community culture is crucial in helping families combat difficulties together. Therefore, building sentimental value in spaces and creating new perspectives within a community would help younger generations develop roots and contribute to their experience. Community space that engages and empowers local residents by translating the historical and cultural value into an immersive experience would help the community to connect, bond, and project hope for the future. The study explores the spatial possibilities to revive existing/abandoned warehouse in Syracuse to showcase a sense of gratitude to the local environment. The main approach for this project will be qualitative research, more specifically, utilizing interviews, surveys, and observation of participants. The proposed site of 7,000 sf at the Galleries of Syracuse will include a multitude of spaces that actively engage the local community.

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Executive Summary This Thesis project expanded from a curiosity I had while listening to my classmates’ complaints about Syracuse. It seemed like no one truly enjoyed being in this city, the crime rate scares them, the weather is depressing, and they’ve declared that there are no real opportunities here for them after graduation. As we are receiving training in our program to become future designers, future problem-solvers, how does it make sense to run away and abandon a city that has proven to be rich in history and has provided for us for the past four years? I have enjoyed my years living in Syracuse, I am fascinated by people’s passion for so many different things, and the ability that organizations have to bring people together at events like Plazapalooza at Everson Museum, or Taste of Syracuse, or the State Fair. I am also inspired by the beauty in the industrial sites; they are, perhaps, ghosts of Syracuse’s prosperous past, and it warms me to see artists create graffiti pieces on them. But Syracuse isn’t the only city that has suffered an economic downturn, others that are also on the “rust belt” are struggling with retaining people, as well. This Thesis project is, I hope, an exploration of possibilities that interior design can bring to help bring communities closer, stimulate the economy, and retain population.

The renovation site chosen for this project is the northwest entrance area of Galleries of Syracuse, located at 441 S Salina Street in downtown Syracuse, adjacent to educational spaces, businesses, and residential communities. Not only is the Galleries of Syracuse home to many local businesses, but it is also a beautiful building that struggles to fulfill all its rental spaces due to low foot traffic in the area. This Thesis project brings research, precedent studies, and design together, to hopefully help the downtown area gain more foot traffic from families and communities. Utilizing the WELL Building Standards, and concepts from Cradle-to-Cradle, to help create an integral space in the downtown community that people are attracted to, and want

to stay awhile in. The programming of the 7,000 sqft site is divided into the following parts: Café, Hydroponic Community Garden, Amphitheater, Artist Market, and support spaces. The sight of plants is seen throughout the entire space, to help bring a different scene around when the outside world is cold and bleak for the majority of the year.

This design proposal for the Northeast entrance of the Galleries of Syracuse is meant to generate more foot traffic, create a higher occupancy to not only the building itself, but to the businesses around as well. The Café is used as a source of income, and it invites people from the outside since it is located adjacent to the exterior entrance. The Amphitheater can be rented out to businesses or organizations, it can also be used as an employee’s lunch break area for those working close by. The Hydroponic Community Garden is an important part of the design, it is the main focus within the space, attached to the exterior of the geometric Amphitheater architecture. Not only will this Hydroponic Community Garden be able to invite communities to take ownership of the space itself, but it will also ensure that even when there are not many people within the space, it is not “lifeless” or intimidating.

The various sources of literature that this Thesis project has taken into consideration, renders the design one that is supported by evidence across the world. This project is striving to be the beginning of a call to action, to invite people to come together and take ownership of where they live, work, and play. Not only does it embrace the power Nature has over people, but it also embraces the power people have over nature.

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Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………….……………….………….. 2 Executive Summary………………………….……………….………….. 3-4 Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………….…….. 6-7 Chapter 2: Design Process……………………………….……………….. 8-9 Chapter 3: Influencial Explorations

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Literature Review………….………………………………… 10-17 Precedent Studies………….…………………………………..18-23 Chapter 4: Conclusion…………………………..….………………...…… 24 Reference: ……………………………….…………………………..…….. 25-26

Chapter 1: Introduction The creative aesthetics part of the project comes from combining inspiration from a build-up of many different sources, one of them being the original photos taken at the opening day of Galleries of Syracuse, in 1987. The drastic difference in the number of people pictured there versus the actual daily foot traffic at the site now is shocking to look at. To not disrupt the general architecture of the building, the Amphitheater was developed less ultra-modern as originally proposed and more in keeping with the building shape instead. However, the geometric shape seems too cold as the first thing to be seen when people walk in through the door, and thus I thought that having the outside of the Amphitheater be where the Hydroponic Garden is would be reasonable. Not only will this soften the edges of the semi-hexagon, but it will also make the Hydroponic Community Garden the centerpiece of attention. Another effort to help “balance” out the space is seen in the flooring line curvilinear on the Café side of the space in contrast to the geometric lines of the amphitheater.

One of the most important aspects of an environmental design is the considerations for the longevity of the project, predicting how people are going to use the space differently.

Constant change can be considered one of the most undeniable properties of human life, and learning, as an individual, to cope with this human condition has always been a personal focus for most people; on a larger scale, since the changing cultural environment has a large impact on the buildings, the considerations for how might a community mend and grow within an existing built environment is essential to the future. Syracuse, like all other cities, has gone through major changes in its demographics in the past decades, and due to various reasons, many industrial buildings have not been well-thought-out as to what their new purpose might be. This reflects deeply onto the city’s own culture as well, and to put it metaphorically, Spring hasn’t found its

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way back to Syracuse. Considering change as a constant in the lifespan of a built environment, the question of how a space can grow with the community, and furthermore, how can the space help the community grow in the process of changing, is the running question that inspired this thesis.

Chapter 2: Design Process Being physically in Syracuse myself, and having the Galleries of Syracuse being the proposed site of the design, it was a wonderful opportunity to dig into the little pieces of artifacts that make history more relatable. I looked through news articles and photos related to the grand opening of the chosen site, spoke to the architectural firm that was responsible for the design, and took the opportunity to make conversations with people who remember this space when it first opened. These human factors made a great impact in my decision making process, seeing people’s nolstalgia about not just a place in time, but rather, a social attitude that seemed to easily bring people together.

The impact and possibilities in value that the cultural and historical meaning holds are tremendous, considering that a place is “home” for its old and new residents, and that it is the bonding medium in the region’s people and could be the center about which economy and opportunities revolve. In Syracuse, the industrial history alongside of the Erie Canal is the glory of a chain of events that snowballed into a city that is populated with people from around the world. Painting this bigger picture within the proposed space, the design is to convey that although changes are prominent, it is up to the people to make a life of their own and take pride in their ability of doing so. To represent the cultural and historical values, several precedents were studied. Further researching the methods of engaging the community and bringing empowerment to the people, considerations of the long term impact of a place in the people are presented.

When a community experiences certain events, such as natural disasters, social injustice events, etc., healing is needed for people to get through the hardship and begin to accept a new reality. In the case of Syracuse, the hardship can be the harshness of winter, it could be violence

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that occurs often in the streets, but in examining the historic timeline of the local area, it can be easily concluded that the fading of its industrial purpose was what eventually snowballed into the reality today. Researching how to bring local communities together and what the methods of empowerment could be, studies of other communities show great promise that involving people in the process of healing/building/creating, is the best way to empower the community.

Examples stem from Rwanda after the genocide, the Gulf Coast Region after the hurricane Katrina, and the research on public health awareness through community engagement. In conclusion, to reestablish a strong and positive mentality towards the future, a space can provide the local residents with a way to engage with the community.

In the actual process of designing the space, I was presented with many challenges, the biggest one being my own lack of ability to make big decisions to drive the design elements. It was during the Design Development phase of the project, after the schematics were all set and done, I struggled with materializing the grand ideas in my head. My thesis advisor, Professor Earle, helped me step out of the mud by creating tasks for me to finish each week. I completed visualization sketches and collages that eventually brought the design to life. This process was a wonderful lesson for me as it is crutial for any designer in the industry to be able to materialize their ideas one step at a time.

Moving forward, the research above leads the design towards a holistic design that activates the area the site currently occupies. It will engage the public with an immersive experience, it will bring focus to the cultural and historical value of Syracuse, and it will encourage deeper community involvement and empowerment. A community space in downtown Syracuse that will be a step towards a brighter future.

Chapter 3: Influential Explorations 1. Literature review The goal of this literature review is to examine the influence design has on the community in which it engages. In order to evaluate the role that design plays within a social context, studies of community spaces are necessary to research, focusing on methods of creating an immersive experience, methods of translation of the historical and cultural value, methods of engagement and empowerment of the community, and the impact that community spaces can create. The question that this research is attempting to answer is: how can design within a community space bring sentimental value and help younger generations develop new roots?

1. Methods of creating the immersive experience

1) Rahimi, F. B., Levy, R. M., Boyd, J. E., & Dadkhahfard, S. (2018). Human behaviour and cognition of spatial experience; a model for enhancing the quality of spatial experiences in the built environment. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 68, 245–255. doi: 10.1016/j.ergon.2018.08.002

Creating an immersive experience within a public space is not only a way of attracting an audience but also a more effective way of communication, or, information delivery. Rahimi et al. take on an interdisciplinary approach to discuss what makes an experience standout and ways to improve that experience. They examine different research regarding cognitive theory to propose a model for enhancing the quality of a spatial experience. The model that the authors propose is divided into three stages, encouraging, enabling, and enclosing. Not only does this study provide

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strategies to encourage the audience, but it also provides considerations for how a space enables the audience with special means, such as the spatial capabilities to have interactive elements, and safety attributes. After these two first stages are achieved, the experience then focuses on emotion and engagement in the enclosing stage of the model. Rahimi et al. provide a structural manual for creating an immersive experience from the conceptual and theoretical level, though it is interdisciplinary, it may be helpful to examine the model proposed in other studies of spaces as well.

2) Annemans, M., Van Audenhove, C., Vermolen, H., & Heylighen, A. (2018). Inpatients’ Spatial Experience: Interactions Between Material, Social, and Time-Related Aspects. Space and Culture, 21(4), 495–511. https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331217750828

Focusing on the experience of inpatients in hospitals, Annemans et al. shine light on a different approach to improving the experience of the user. Although the audience, or user, is no longer the same, the human scale and cognition of spatial experience remain largely similar. Annemans et al. studied the way inpatients occupy spaces in the hospital and found that their experience is dictated by the following three major elements: material, social, and time-related aspects. This study examines how these elements relate and interact in the patients’ experience, and propose for future design solutions.

2. Methods of translating the historical and cultural value into a space

1) Loughran, K. (2016). Imbricated Spaces: The High Line, Urban Parks, and the Cultural Meaning of City and Nature. Sociological Theory, 34(4), 311–334. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735275116679192

When considering the methods of translating the historical and cultural value into a space, one needs to first consider what changes are present that contributed to the need for “reinvention” first. Throughout modern history, there are many examples of civic attempts that engage this “change” identified, and reinvents it into something that is of value to the community. In this article, the relationship between cities and nature is discussed in terms of the change that is happening under the cultural conditions of the twenty-first century. More specifically, it discusses how society has an impact on space, using contemporary urban parks such as New York’s High Line, to argue that these imbricated spaces present city and nature as active agents in their creation through the decay of the built environment and the growth of the natural environment. The author proposes that the transformation of city-nature imbrications into culturally valued spaces reflect that there is a broader recognition of how climate change and industrial decay is shaping the social spaces of contemporary cities. Considering that Syracuse as a city faces the same struggles of industrial decay and climate challenges, studying this article to consider the value of history and culture and the role it plays in shaping urban landscape is a way to digest the socio-spatial relationship for further consideration.

2) Alvarez, Jamie W. (2010, September 3). A Love Letter to Syracuse. Retrieved from http://connectivecorridor.syr.edu/a-love-letter-to-syracuse/.

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Continuing to focus on the city of Syracuse, there are and have been many projects that were intended to bring history and culture value alive, one of which is this project reported by ABC News: “A Love Letter to Syracuse”. This is a project that was commissioned by the Near Westside Initiative, done by artist Stephen Powers, to revamp the graffiti-laden bridges that are in the downtown area of Syracuse. This project addressed the local opinion that “there is nothing to do in the city”, and that “the winter is tough to get through”, and tried to give the city a new persona by turning something that seemed unkempt into beautiful works of art. The artist not only extended the life of the bridges that he worked on, but he also attempted to extend the life of Syracuse by showing appreciation of the past. Similar projects like this one are attracting more and more attention to the areas that no one likes to look at anymore, this goes to show the difference an artwork can make on the outlook of the whole neighborhood.

3. Methods of engagement and empowerment of community 1) Bullivant, L. (2017). The Hyperlocal: Less Smart City, More Shared Social Value.

Architectural Design, 87(1), 6–15. doi: 10.1002/ad.2126

Engagement of community under this topic does not focus on the engagement of an audience during an experience, but it focuses on how the project is a community project and engages and empowers the community from the beginning of the creation process. The term ‘hyperlocal’ is introduced at the beginning of this article as a particular mindset, a social ecology, that is underpinned by a belief that on-the-ground engagement and shared resources are of fundamental benefit to the evolution of communities and cities. This can be considered as an alternative model among many others that are responding to the challenges of urbanization. The article

argues that technological development, specifically, the internet of things (IoT), can be combined with other tactics to compile more intuitive perspectives of data that helps understand user engagement. Moreover, the article mentions a project in Rwanda that utilizes a drone network for blood and other medical supplies transport. The “locality” of a design is what this method focuses on, and the understanding of locality is important for better design solutions for infrastructures.

2) Sanchez, G. J., & Koritz, A. (2009). Civic Engagement in the Wake of Katrina. University of Michigan Press.

When the infrastructure that people rely on is pulled apart by natural disasters, it becomes crucial to be able to use the resources available most efficiently. This collection of essays discusses the struggles and recorded phenomena of human behavior surrounding Katrina, a hurricane that hit the Gulf Coast region. Not only did this event expose the underlying problems of inequality and corruption, but it also became a great topic to discuss and analyze for bettering other communities. The authors discussed the role that higher education may play in public cultural work, and how the New Orleans region utilized the methods of civic engagement to recover from Katrina. Compiling the information found in this process and taking the essence of it for the purpose of this thesis help validate the engagement of the community as a tactic in infrastructural recovery.

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3) Thompson, B., Molina, Y., Viswanath, K., Warnecke, R., & Prelip, M. L. (2016). Strategies to empower communities to reduce health disparities. Health Affairs, 35(8), 1424-1428A. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libezproxy2.syr.edu/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.1364

From the previous source reviewed, civic engagement has the power to more efficiently help a community recover from a hardship, and this study provides research that empowerment of the community can start before the completion of a project, and the study argues that communitybased participatory research is a promising approach to reducing health disparities. Not only was the community engagement in this study necessary, but it was also empowering in that it encouraged individuals and communities to be more in tune with their health problems. This study discussed projects from the Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities that have succeeded in achieving positive health outcomes and offered the conclusion that by involving people in identifying and defining their problems, the exchange of knowledge between people is encouraged. Though this study was done specifically for the topic of health disparities, it is hardly unrelatable to the Syracuse scene, as community empowerment starts with being informed and people willing to take charge of their own wellness - both physically and mentally.

4) Tarr, Lauren. Rooted In Empowerment: Community-Based Urban Forestry Experiences In Syracuse, New York

If the engagement of the community has a chance to empower the community as stated by the previous source, how can this statement then be implemented to an environment? Tarr, the author, argues in this research that the involvement in an urban forestry program can be an

empowering experience for participants. This journal researched specifically within the Syracuse area, making it a very translatable for the use of this thesis. The author broke down the components of empowerment and proposed information as guides to help community programs enhance the social benefits they provide to the community. Social benefits that Tarr’s new proposed model of empowerment are listed within the paper, one of them being that it provides urban youth with environmental experiences and education they might not have encountered otherwise. The author states that according to her research, empowerment outcomes were addressed as establishing a sense of control, critical awareness, and participatory behaviors. The studies that support this outcome are useful to the thesis of this research, to further discuss the empowerment of the community.

4. Impacts of community space

1) Valentine, G. (2004). Public space and the culture of childhood. Aldershot: Ashgate.

To understand the impacts of a community space, one needs to first consider the audience in which this community space will be engaging. Because of the fact that the community is often built around families, and families are built around children, the experience of this specific group of the population need to be carefully examined. In his book, Public Space and the Culture of Childhood, Valentine defines what it means to be a child, the fears about children as vulnerable in public space, parents’ general understanding of children’s spatial boundaries, children’s use of space, and adults’ attitudes towards teenagers in public space. This book provides insights on the presence of children in public spaces, and the author concludes that in including children in

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planning public spaces, it promotes children’s participation and citizenship. The impact of a public space can be as positive as one can shape it to be, and this book helps the thesis research to determine the basis that builds the child’s experience in public space that can potentially have long-lasting effects on community empowerment.

2) Logan, T. (2017, Sep 08). Park and recreation: Boston gets a new public space — one that uses art to attract people to a onetime no man's land and connect the south end, south boston.

Boston Globe Retrieved from https://search-proquestcom.libezproxy2.syr.edu/docview/1936410851?accountid=14214

While the impacts of focusing on children’s experience in the planning phase may be in effect years after the project, are there ways to see this impact on the community from a different perspective? This article by Logan at the Boston Globe focuses on a new park that was an experiment in creating new public space in a crowded city, and how to link adjacent but separated neighborhoods that are on the rise in Boston. The author interviews the people behind the project, and states the methods of approach that attracted people to a corner of the neighborhood that never used to be popular. These approaches and results can be similarly translated into proposing a re-design of an abandoned land/building and how to successfully impact the community with this gesture.

b. Precedent Study Precedent Study 1: The New York Highline New York’s famed Highline is a linear park that spans 1.45 miles, it re-invented the way people experience the Meatpacking District by utilizing the existing historical rails and introducing a new definition for immersive public park experience. From a rusted, rundown industrial neighborhood, to one of the most fashionable places that are vibrant with energy in the arts and technological advancement in New York, this change would not have been achieved the same if not for the grand impact of the Highline. The project is a collaboration between James Corner Field Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Piet Oudolf. This project not only preserves the historical value of the area, but also is creatively designed to bring a new experience, and has had a positive impact on the neighborhood and beyond.

The High Line was successful in that it was respectful of the historical value of Syracuse and did not destroy the properties that made it so phenommenal. Because of the fact that the High Line was built on an abandoned elevated railway, the existing conditions that the project be linear. This linear shape as a quality such that the park allows the users of the Highline to be ‘fabricated’ into the existing and upcoming urban spaces. “Visitors reach the 30-foot-high park through intermittently located stairs, including a monumental and highly visible ‘slow stair’ that permits users to fully experience the transition from the street” (Center for Active Design). This unusual transition of turning a railroad into a paved park has proven to be successful in activating the area and encouraging new cultural development to build upon the old one. The scale of the High Line is also interesting to consider since it is so linear and singular, it is intimate enough that people are very close together, but at the same time it is quite immense as people are placed openly and closely to the giant buildings and structures. To keep and follow the linear quality of

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the existing structure, the project used a new paving system that is built from linear concrete planks with open joints. These planks feature “specially tapered edges and seams that permit the free flow of water, and intermingling of organic plant-life with harder materials” (ASLA, 2010).

Together, these textures - the plant life, the concrete plank, and the existing rail - help create a sense of duration that time has passed and changes are embraced.

Other than the “keeping” of the historical elements within the project, the High Line also introduces new activities and amenities that support the visitors. These elements are crucial in assuring that the public space is enjoyable and attracts enough foot traffic to maintain a healthy ecosystem surrounding the public space. For example, according to the Center for Active Design, parks that have paved trails are 26 times more likely to be used for physical activity than parks that lack paved trails. Details such as the paved paths, benches, water fountains, food vendors, and shaded areas are not to be missed when considering the experience of a public space. The more open and visible stairs of the High Line are also considered inviting for use, and the hidden ones, along with pathways and niches, encourage taking one’s time. A key design intention that is publicly recognized is that the High Line aims to slow things down for the visitors. Especially in a city of fast changes, for people to appreciate the old is to present it as a place where time seems less pressing. Not only does the High Line offer a different perspective to the district, but it also provides spaces for entertainment. For example, there are food vendors spread out in different areas of the High Line, providing a meal option to not just visitors but also workers in adjacent buildings. The High Line also features an amphitheater that has a view of the busy streets as a backdrop, and serves as a flexible event space. These strategies of the High Line are successfully guiding the visitors’ experience and bringing a positive impact on the neighborhood and beyond because of the attention that it has attracted.

Relating to the thesis project, the High Line is a successful precedent that shows how design can manipulate the image and experience of a run-down district. To summarize, the High Line preserved and emphasized the historical elements by keeping the linear quality and adding new textures on top of the old; it slowed down the pace of the visitors by first inviting them to be actively exploring, and second slowing them down to allow time and capacity for appreciation; thirdly, the High Line provides activities that support the experience of the visitors, such as benches, water fountains, food vendors, and event spaces. These elements can be translated into the Syracuse area, and similar techniques can be utilized to provoke a change in perspective and experience for the residents. The New York Highline project was successful in the preservation of historical and cultural value, the creation of a new experience, and the positive impact that it has brought to the district. In analyzing this project as a precedent for a thesis project on a community space in Syracuse, parallels can be drawn between the challenges the area faces and the possibilities for a solution in the form of a design for public space.

Precedent Study 2: Granary Square Many existing successful projects in London were done in recent years in an attempt to revitalize some of the historical sites and cultural values instilled in them. Granary Square at the King’s Cross is one of the examples of this type of project as it sits right beside various sites that resemble residues of modern changes to historical industrial uses. The regeneration project at Granary Square is a master plan that focused on preserving historical values of the Regent’s Canal, King’s Cross, Coal Drops Yard, and the Square, while at the same time bringing new life and purpose to the existing sites.

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Opened in 2012, Granary Square is most adjacent to the Regent’s Canal, and the Square itself was used as a dock that unload grain, among other raw materials that were transported through the Canal from the riverside dock. This interesting historical fact about Granary Square has left it with several historic features within the Square that have now been retained and assigned new purposes, as the Square is no longer industrial at all. For example, the canalside basin area that used to be where the horses that pulled the boats on the canals would rest is now made into a public “park” that features a turf seating surface that makes up an amphitheater for the public to enjoy the canal. The water fountains are located in the center of the square right above the turf carpeted steps, which contain over 1080 individual jets, allowing the fountains to create a certain kind of movement that goes across the square. Responding to site’s dynamic history, the fountain, as a “moving sculpture”, is designed to keep the area lively when it is unoccupied using the same element that has brought prosperity here in the past – water. Not only does the fountain effectively fills the space without cluttering, but it also makes a significant contribution to the “animation of the Square, to provide texture, sound and a source of passive enjoyment” (The Academy of Urbanism, 2018). The fountain is a place of gathering for the community as the children and people love to interact with the playful dancing water in the summer, and to watch it perform on a winter day. However, the fountain is not the only thing that is preserving the activeness on the Square, as many events and festivals have been hosted right on the Square, such as “music festivals, Traction and Africa Express, an ice cream festival and a large screen for sporting events”(Landezine, 2014). With such a focus on revitalizing the area, the modern Square has quickly but firmly established itself as a major new district and transport hub for the city.

Kings Cross station is the central location where trains to Europe are to be accessed for Londoners, and it is historically used to transport goods as well as people. The transportation of goods from the Canal, the roads, and trains required many storage buildings, and thus an integral part of the project has been to “retain and restore the various historic buildings that frame the Square” (The Academy of Urbanism, 2018). Many of these buildings were not extensively “cleaned”, and the project intention is to allow the industrial origins to be left exposed. For example, in the Granary Building, the University of the Arts has moved in, bringing in fresh opinions, people, visitors, and the culture of higher education. The doors of the Granary Building open right onto the Square, allowing students to populate the public space. The Granary Building is essentially two adjacent brick buildings that were connected with a glass shaft as the main entrance hallway, which also allows space for students to lounge with cafes and other recreational facilities present. Adjacently placed on the other side of the Square, is the Coal Drops Yard shopping center designed by Thomas Heatherwick Studio. This part of the master plan arranged shops in two converted 19th-century coal warehouses and connected their roofs to make the in-between space publicly accessible. With the above design qualities, Kings Cross regeneration was intended to further reinforce the relationship with adjacent communities.

The regeneration of Granary Square required a holistic master plan to fully integrate pieces of the city, which includes a whole wide range of cultural, commercial, and residential uses. The Square and adjacent public space is owned and managed by the developer who organizes various events, such as cinema screenings and street food stalls. However, critics of the project have long expressed and protested the development of this master plan, calling it a “publoid”. Their reasoning for this response is that much of the goal that is proposed - to improve lives around the area with facilities and investment - is to be achieved through

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commercial development under the control and management of a single owner. This puts a limit on the inclusivity and diversity of the project, making the site publicly accessible but still privately owned and managed. Critics propose that the alternative would be for “local communities to form their development groups, which would change sites incrementally” (Rowan Moore, 2014). In the multiple newly developed luxury housing surrounding the Square, the culture of the King’s Cross is lost in translation. Even though more affordable homes, communal facilities, and jobs had been created, the project is still criticized for the closed nature of the management policy.

Granary Square now, as the center of arts, culture, tourism, and residential neighborhoods, is embedded in the surrounding cityscape, and the design of the masterplan allowed room for change to instill the value of this area as the lifestyles of people evolve. Not only was the historical preservation part of this project successfully done, but it also is successful in the sense that it considers the future of this project and the longevity of the design. The project, though created to benefit surrounding communities, was criticized for the management method while at the same time achieving great results for the economy and cultural livelihood within the area.

Translating these analyses into the Thesis project in Syracuse, similar approaches using design that “reactivates” an area using interactive alternative sculptures, public parks, events, and shops can effectively achieve the goal of attracting people to create a new identity for the location.

Chapter 4: Conclusion Looking forward, I hope that the project can provoke more conversation regarding the methods and benefits of community enagagement within public spaces. If the design was chosen to be used in the renovation process of the Galleries of Syracuse, and was successful in bringing more traffic into the space and stimulating revenues in Syracuse, then it could be viewed as an example of using design to solve social issues. This project would contribute to organizations like Near Westside Initiative, who seeks to bring art and culture together in a place. People who pass by and people who attend events within the space the Galleries of Syracuse would get to experience the feeling of a community.

This work is a combination of knowledge and experience collected through my years at Syracuse; my previous projects and explorations have led me to this point. In a way, this project is a representation of a part of myself, as a designer, as a part of a community, and as a global citizen. My desire to bring people together stems from my personal experience of seeing both the beauty and struggle in being a part of many different communities and cultures. My work in this project can teach people that the responsibilities they take up within their own communities is a sign of initiative in taking ownership, and communities grow because people care.

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Reference

Alvarez, Jamie W. (2010, September 3). A Love Letter to Syracuse. Retrieved from http://connectivecorridor.syr.edu/a-love-letter-to-syracuse/.

Annemans, M., Van Audenhove, C., Vermolen, H., & Heylighen, A. (2018). Inpatients’ Spatial Experience: Interactions Between Material, Social, and Time-Related Aspects. Space and Culture, 21(4), 495–511. https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331217750828

Bullivant, L. (2017). The Hyperlocal: Less Smart City, More Shared Social Value. Architectural Design, 87(1), 6–15. doi: 10.1002/ad.2126

Cutter, B. (2016). Spatial Experience and Special Relativity. Philosophical Studies, 174(9), 2297–2313. doi: 10.1007/s11098-016-0799-8

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