ARTT 006D. ARCH Studio: Cities, Territories, Infrastructure

This design studio considers the federally-funded initiative to cover - or “cap” - the Vine Street Expressway (I-676) dividing Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood. We will begin by looking at case studies of infrastructural injustices in United States cities: highway projects that destroyed black and minority communities, separated neighborhoods from critical services, or created long-term environmental adversity. Working with historic photos, maps, and secondary literature, we will draw and document these cases to better situate the current Vine Street initiative. Guest critics and lecturers from architecture, urbanism, landscape and engineering will bring additional perspectives to the research and design work. Meetings with community stakeholders, photography, urban scale plans and a collective site model will support the articulation of proposals for the cap or its surrounding neighborhood. These designs will offer programmatic, environmental and urban ideas that strengthen the community. By the end of the semester, students will be familiar with a design process for addressing complex urban questions.
Arts and Humanities.
1 credit.
Spring 2024. Devabhaktuni.
Catalog chapter: Art
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/art

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