Friday, September 11, 2015 2:00 pm
-
2:00 pm
EDT (GMT -04:00)
Of the thesis entitled:Opportunity in Absence:Activating VacantSpace in The Temporary City
Abstract:
The
vacant
buildingsin
Cambridge
await
new
uses
as
traditional
commercial
activity
has
shifted
tothe
sprawl
that
defines
the
landscape
between
the
city’s
historic
cores.Downtown
businesses
have
been
replaced
by
big-box
suburban
developments,leaving
thequestion,
what
will
fill
the
city’s
urban
voids?
In
decliningmanufacturing-based
economies,
like
Cambridge,
governments
focus
on
attractingthe
“creative
class”
for
economic
growth.
Cambridge
selected
the
creativesector
as
a
development
target;
however,
the
city
hasimplemented
few
of
theproposed
changes
from
the
economic
development
strategy
commissioned
in
2008.Further
reports
identify
that
the
region
lacks
the
physical
creative
sectorspace
required
for
creation
and
networking
within
its
existing
building
stock,despitestatistics
showing
the
commercial
vacancy
rate
in
downtown
Cambridgeclimbed
above
40
percent
in
2013.1The
vacant
buildings
in
Cambridgecreate
an
opportunity
for
potential
programs
to
promote
community
engagement.Mobile
architecture
can
be
designed
tosupport
new
activities,
leveraging
thevacant
space
into
an
urban
laboratory
for
experimental
programs.
Vacant land is both ubiquitous anddiverse and both a problemanda resource...2
Bottom-up activismpresents the opportunity to act quickly and empower citizens to contrast andcomplement the top-down, long-term policy strategies. Community initiativesthat engage the public can play a role in developing social capital and civicidentity. In a yearof experimental work with BRIDGE (a student-led nonprofitinitiative), a model program was developed to activate the vacant spaces onMain Street in Cambridge. These community activities, within the city’s waitinglands, illustrate a translation of theoretical principlesand tactics to transformvacant spaces. Informed from the evolving temporary programs, a mobilearchitecture is proposed to activate empty spaces, bridging from short- tomid-term occupancy, while creating a unique identity with the ability to adaptas users’ needs anddesires change.
Conceived to occupyabsent space, the proposed mobile architecture is designed as a portable,reconfigurable toolkit that can aggregate and disperse to support differentspatial programs. Filling a void in the core, the space for production experimentationandcommunity initiatives creates a temporary public asset from the city’sunused private capital. Building partnerships at the street level, the workaims to create discernible change within the limitations of the community bycapitalizing on its strengths, while developing socialcapital andorganizational capacity between citizens, nonprofits and public-privateinstitutions. The absent space in the city presents an opportunity to prototypemobile architecture and new programs, transforming unused vacant space forproductive community building.
Vacant land is both ubiquitous anddiverse and both a problemanda resource...2
Bottom-up activismpresents the opportunity to act quickly and empower citizens to contrast andcomplement the top-down, long-term policy strategies. Community initiativesthat engage the public can play a role in developing social capital and civicidentity. In a yearof experimental work with BRIDGE (a student-led nonprofitinitiative), a model program was developed to activate the vacant spaces onMain Street in Cambridge. These community activities, within the city’s waitinglands, illustrate a translation of theoretical principlesand tactics to transformvacant spaces. Informed from the evolving temporary programs, a mobilearchitecture is proposed to activate empty spaces, bridging from short- tomid-term occupancy, while creating a unique identity with the ability to adaptas users’ needs anddesires change.
Conceived to occupyabsent space, the proposed mobile architecture is designed as a portable,reconfigurable toolkit that can aggregate and disperse to support differentspatial programs. Filling a void in the core, the space for production experimentationandcommunity initiatives creates a temporary public asset from the city’sunused private capital. Building partnerships at the street level, the workaims to create discernible change within the limitations of the community bycapitalizing on its strengths, while developing socialcapital andorganizational capacity between citizens, nonprofits and public-privateinstitutions. The absent space in the city presents an opportunity to prototypemobile architecture and new programs, transforming unused vacant space forproductive community building.
1
ColliersMacaulay
Nicolls
(Ontario)
Inc.,
Brokerage
2 AnnO’M. Bowman and Michael A. Pagano,TerraIncognita: Vacant land and urban strategies(Washington D.C.: GeorgetownUniversity Press, 2004), 1
2 AnnO’M. Bowman and Michael A. Pagano,TerraIncognita: Vacant land and urban strategies(Washington D.C.: GeorgetownUniversity Press, 2004), 1
The examining committee is as follows:
Supervisor:
MonaEl Khafif,University of ݮƵ
CommitteeMembers:
RickHaldenby,
University
ofݮƵ
Donald
McKay,
University
of
ݮƵ
External Reader:
Rod Regier, City of Kitchener
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
The
Defence
Examination
will
take
place:
Friday
September11,
2015
2:00PM
BRIDGE
Centre
for
Architecture
+
Design
–35/37
Main
Street
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.