[PROPOSITIONS] ARCH 562 + MUD 722

STUDIO THEME

“Systems Of Reality: The Delta”

The marginalization of communities is often manifested in the built realm with spatial oppression exacerbating poverty and the different systems of reality for Black people in the US, socio-economic segregation, differences in experiences and relationships in public space, erasure of cultural identity etc.

This studio examined these systems of inequity through the sociocultural, physical, and infrastructural dimensions of the Mississippi Delta at multiple scales, leading to the programming and speculative design of a community space in one of the poorest, and most segregated, cities in the country; Clarksdale, Mississippi. Clarksdale was once a center of wealth in the region, aggregating the labors of the thousands of people who picked cotton and conducted the economic, civic life of the community. However, this wealth was concentrated in the hands of some and off limits to others. The vestiges of these discriminatory practices remain impactful on the community today. Nonetheless, the region is rich in culture, history and will of its people.

The studio will worked closely with Delta Commons, a local nonprofit organization that facilitates the development of opportunities for communities throughout the Delta region of Mississippi and Arkansas. Research and oral histories informed design speculations in which students are tasked to ambitiously create a program for, and speculative design of, a community space which seeks to amplify and empower the residents of Clarksdale. The site is that of the old Clarksdale Hospital, which had a policy of not treating BIPOC in need of medical care.