Two L Arch students (Nina Mross and Jiyoung Park) took part in a summer design/build project with the Architecture Department addressing food prep in Seattle’s homeless communities.
Food and the ability to prepare it are fundamental components of life. Places of food preparation–whether a home kitchen or a fire pit–serve not only their most explicit functions but also act as cultural gathering spaces for families and communities. Food preparation poses particularly unique challenges in Seattle’s homeless communities for individuals, families and larger communities, such as the Nickelsville Tiny Home Village or tent cities. Over the summer quarter, Jake LaBarre, Mike Freeman and Greg Squires led a group of motivated students in a studio investigation to find a solution.
The interdisciplinary built environments graduate studio included students from both Architecture and Landscape Architecture. The studio began with the desire to create a mobile, community cookhouse that could connect with efforts to address homelessness in our city.
“Food is something we all share,
that brings us together,
no matter our life situation or level of privilege”
Take a look at the whole process behind The Block Project. You can see The Block Project live and in action at the Seattle Design Festival, Sept. 6-20, 2018.
This article was originally written by Nancy Dragun on September 6, 2018.
To see the original article, visit http://arch.be.washington.edu/summer-design-build-studio-2018/