ROOM FOR PEOPLE NOT PEOPLE FOR ROOMS

The Cooper Hewitt Museum is currently displaying design projects that put an emphasis on people and are chasing rooms and spaces to conform to these people rather than have people contort to an environment. Probation Resource Hubs in New York City, Las Abuelita Kinship Housing in Tuscon, and High Speed Rail Map and Board Game for the United States are some examples of how people are changing spaces to fit their lives and desires.

One of the last projects I saw at the Cooper Hewitt Museum was a project named Probation Resource Hubs. Designers, graphic designers, and collaborators for this project include Oliver Munday, Carin Goldberg, James Victore, Paul Sahre, Biber Architects, Dave Johnson, Lonni Tanner, School of Visual Arts students, District Council 9 International Union of Painters, Jon Burgerman, Nontraditional Employment for Women and David Weeks Design. Together, theses people and groups created this project for the New York City Department of Probation and See ChangeNYC and the New York City Department of Designs and Construction. The project essentially is a major redesigning of the waiting rooms at New York City’s Department of Probation. Prior to the redesigning, the waiting rooms were made up largely of neutral and subdued colours, signs asking people to refrain from eating, drinking, and sleeping, and bulletproof glass between the agency’s staff and the people they served. The redesigning removed these signature characteristics and implemented a brighter atmosphere with a more optimistic vibe. This new environment comes from adding bold colours to the walls and furniture, hanging motivational posters that aren’t just cheesy pictures of cats, and increasing the feeling of human interaction and empathy by removing the barriers between humans. I was drawn to this project because it highlights just how important an atmosphere and an environment can be and how much impact a room has on people. According to the Cooper Hewitt’s website  this remodeling has resulting in a 20 minute decrease in wait times. By making the environment vibrant, productivity increased and thus the amount of people helped by the agency.

Similarly, the first project I saw at the museum also involved redesigning an area to serve people. This second project was names Las Abuelita Kinship Housing and was created by Poster Frost Mirto, The deign Element, and Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. The client was Primavera Foundation, a foundation setting out to create housing for communities in need of revitalization. The project centers around creating housing that can fit the needs for both the elderly and children as to accommodate to the growing demographic of grandparents raising grandchildren. In Tuscon, Arizona this growing demographic was noted among the Hispanic population and this project was designed to create housing to fit the demographic. Along with creating housing, this project has also developed community centers to aid children, the elderly and the rest of the community. These community centers include after school programs and supportive classes available to the entire community.

I was attracted to this project because it is about a demographic I know very well. Growing up in a largely Hispanic neighborhood I know many people who fit this demographic. Many people I grew up with had both parents who worked and they were brought up mainly by their grandparents. Because I knew so many people in this situation I also knew the struggles they faced within their housing and communities. Housing in general is created with healthy, capable adults in mind. Hen staircases are designed on to a building, for example, the limitations of an elderly adult with arthritis and a small child, whose legs are not as long as an adult’s, is not considered. This new design takes into consideration such obstacles. Another obstacle is the living situation. This project includes apartment units that easily accessible to each other and are interconnected with walkways. This design allows for the  grandparents to remain independence from their children while being able to take care of their grandchildren; a common conflict in this demographic. I think this project can be adapted to New York City because it is a place where the cost of living is high and the instances in which grandparents raise grandchildren are more common because both parents must work to pay that cost. New York City offers affordable housing already to many people who also belong to this demographic so remodeling the housing and investing in the communities are how the city can adopt this project. The sole obstacle, as in many cases of helping is getting funding approval which is an issue that requires more information.

The final project is one I saw at the end of the day; titled High Speed Rail Map and Board Game. This project was created by Alfred Twu however there is no specific client for whom he created it. The project is essentially a railway system with stations throughout the United States  meant to emulate the feeling of interconnectivity and community the subway systems create in cities. Unlike the previous project, this one is taking a page from New York City’s book to create a similar environment that connects the urban with the rural and suburban. Although this railway system is not a reality, this project has a feature built into it to make it come to life. The board game part of the project is a game where players compete to have their city’s rail service first. The players act as politicians and allow for people to learn how change can be made in politics. The ultimate result appears to be educating all people on how to make the changes they want to their space, the nation in this case, so that it fits their agenda and remove the divide between them, which is also, in this case, the nation.