On Memory: Design Brigade Week 7.
Reflections on diversity and our path forward.
Last Wednesday, we met with several New Haven community leaders and City of New Haven officials to present our ideas about possible memorials. We identified the 4 key possible directions (discussed in Week 6) of what a memorial for COVID-19 might look like. This week’s Medium reflection is our way of making sense of their discussion and feedback.
Thoughts on Relationship Building and Diversity-
People’s relationship to racial issues is complex and personal, because racial background is a factor that each individual is born with and is un-malleable to one’s will. During the discussion, we were not surprised to notice the community representatives’ apprehension towards the racial distribution represented by the Design Brigade program — a pattern of diversity reflected by the architecture programs we are a part of at Yale. Given the lack of racial diversity among the student designers, and given the fact that we are not from New Haven, we had to acknowledge the limitations of our outreach efforts. We discussed the difference between doing with and doing for the community, and talked about our path forward: Black and Brown community voices have to be given a decision-making seat at the table from this foundational stage of the project onwards. And, in doing this, we must also establish deeper channels of outreach to give New Haveners real say in the development of this project.
How do we reconcile the backgrounds we represent with the frustration of New Haven community members who are often on the sidelines of City-wide decision making? But perhaps, more importantly, how do we as design students hold our institutions accountable to higher standards in their recruitment efforts so that the design field can look like the community it serves?
From these questions emerged an understanding that this project needs to continue including a diverse set of community voices and perspectives:
As we’ve emphasized in past Medium reflections, our positionality and the institutions/systems we represent are not things we can underplay or ignore. The internal discussions that have flowed from this presentation confront this head on. And by extension, we have asked ourselves about the diversity of Architecture as a practice and the patterns of diversity at the Yale School of Architecture (YSOA), which many of us are affiliated with. We hope our experiences with this project serve as a reminder of the importance of representation in the world of design, and the significance of intentionality with approach, diction, and mindset when facilitating community projects. To this end, we have reached out to the Yale branch of the National Association of Minority Architects (NOMAS).
Although the systemic issues of diversity and accessibility in design education have started to be confronted at an institutional level, we are only at the start of this process. Within the field of architecture, we appreciate that our mentors at Atelier Cho Thompson (ACT)are outwardly committed to equity and diversity in their practice, and that the advisors we’ve worked with from other architectural firms mirror ACT in their commitments.
We admit that this conversation is part of a much larger discussion, but our final point is simple: Diversity in architecture is invariably tied to the diversity of YSOA, which inevitably informs the work it does for and with New Haven. And, as this project has made clear, Yale still has a long way to go to build trust with the City it calls home.
Moving forward-
We’re working to enrich the ideas that received the most attention during our meeting last week. As of now, we’re splitting our work into three deliverable categories, with the understanding that our avenues of outreach will continue to grow alongside our design work.
Guidebook
As we near the end of this internship, we must think about the longevity of this project. To this end, we’re beginning to work on a guidebook that we can pass off to the City, to the Advisory Committee of New Haveners, and to any other local artists or architects that are brought into this memorial project. The guidebook will serve as a roadmap for how to build off the work we’ve done so far, and will include a list of those we’ve already spoken with. In writing up this book, we are cognizant of the limitations of our outreach, and will make note of people, organizations or communities that should still be roped into the outreach and design of this memorial. The guidebook will reflect on this moment of pandemic and protest, on the nationwide conversations about systemic inequality and diversity, and the conditions that prompted this memorial. We will also use it as a space to expand on some of the ideas that we are discussing below—
Temporary Memorials
The proposal to create temporary memorials is to address the lack of public spaces to reflect on the ongoing pandemic. Considering the nationwide impact of Covid-19, the general sentiment seems to be a push for reopening and normalcy. New Haven’s residents are hurting, and certain communities and individuals are more affected than others and are grieving from loss and struggle. The temporary memorials will shed light on our neighbor’s experiences. A defining aspect of these memorials is to provide spaces for anyone who feels inclined to write and leave memorabilia. We hope these interventions, in even the slightest ways, may hold space for the grieving and healing process. These quick to assemble memorials can spring up within days and will serve as platforms for people to voice themselves, communicate, and feel a sense of connection with the city. We also hope that by asking the right questions (as writing prompts), we may get an understanding of what people in New Haven want for a permanent memorial. The temporary memorials will be in multiple sites throughout New Haven and will bring the city together through a common platform and design.
Here are some sketches for our temporary memorials:
Brownfield/Art Park/Memorial Permanent
We presented four ideas along the parameters of single versus multi-sited, and durable versus ephemeral. It seemed that the best way of answering the questions and challenges arising from our discussion with community leaders and officials would be to create a platform for local artists. We see this as a way of engaging the diversity of Covid-19 experiences within New Haven in an impactful way.
One iteration of this expands on the brownfield/art park idea that we presented to the City as our single-sited, durable framework. Generally speaking, the proposal of an Art Park expresses the importance of a permanent communal safe space that evolves to support the needs, objectives, and desires of New Haven residents. There is a consistent interest among community members in our meetings to include New Haven BIPOC artists in any idea that is pursued. We have been brainstorming ways for local artists to continually contribute their voices to the greater mission. There is a heightened emphasis on cultivating new, steady opportunities for creatives to provide their insight to an evolving memorial space.
As noted in our meetings with the New Haven Department of Cultural Affairs, and perpetually noted in our On Memory cohort discussions, the road to any space of permanence is lengthy. Furthermore, an enduring memorial space that deeply considers the needs and desires of City residents, takes an extraordinary amount of effort and time from an extensive group of contributors. We are therefore deliberating memorial options with the City that can be productive even during the timespan of implementation. This involves potential hands-on community engagement in the steps leading up to a lasting space of healing. The long term ambition is to establish a space that is flexible, accommodating the future needs of residents, and creating a personal and communal synergy with the project. We aim to steer clear of proposals that impose a regimented order and emotion from the people this memorial is meant to serve.
Next Steps
Finalize visual and graphic language-
We’ve been working on establishing a more unified visual language for our final guidebook and upcoming presentations. The first step of this is deciding on a colour palette that is used throughout our documents, you can see our colours below. The other part of this involves converting our hand-drawn sketches into renderings and digital collages. We’re still working on this, and will continue to flush out our ideas alongside this process.
Continued relationship building and a call for artists-
As our meeting highlighted, we have reached the point where local designers, artists, architects, leaders and organizers must be brought to the table. We’ve discussed forming an advisory committee that is inclusive of the diversity of New Haven’s residents, as a means of carrying this project to realization, continuing the work we’ve begun, and really being the front-facing organizers of this memorial. We’re also hoping to work with people we’ve already met with, as well as with the resources of the Department of Cultural Affairs, to form a coalition of New Haven artists who will really author this project.
Presentation to Mayor-
Before anything concrete can be promised, we will be presenting our proposals to New Haven’s Mayor Elicker. This will likely be in the last week of July, and will hopefully be a space where we can discuss intentions and bounce ideas to make sure this memorial has the full backing of the City.
Additional Resources
“Art became the Oxygen,” U.S. Department of Arts and Culture.
“Monuments and Memorials,” The Inclusive Historian’s Handbook
“The ‘Black Lives Matter’ Street Art That Contain Multitudes,” by Julia Jacobs. The New York Times.
“Urban Legend: The South Bronx in Representation and Ruin,” by Peter L’Official. Harvard UP.
