Graduate Studio Explores the Power of Design to Transform Vacant and Underused Urban Land
Students in the Re-Constructions: Creating Collective Spaces in Communities class examine a model of the City of Boston
This semester, Wentworth professor and alumnus Danyson Tavares, Architecture ’11, Master of Architecture ’12, taught a Graduate Research Travel Studio in the Wentworth School of Architecture & Design that raised important ethical questions in its subject matter around the role of architects and designers.
Tavares posted on LinkedIn about the Re-Constructions: Creating Collective Spaces in Communities course, sharing that it “seeks to raise important questions about the role of architects and designers in the construction of community, as well as in their suppression and colonization.”
Students studied a recent City of Boston audit on empty and underused land to see if they could use design and community action to change how the land is used. As they worked, they examined the idea of whether vacancies could be a biproduct of racially motivated urban planning.
“What an absolute pleasure to work alongside these incredible 2024 M.Arch candidates,” he wrote, specifically citing the talents of Ryan Tupper, Hilcias De La Cruz, Daniel Esthevao, and Caetano Reis.
The group archived its work over the semester and produced a short publication that can be viewed online at Issuu.
