The diagram above shows the
box braid within the context of its
creation and division style.
The dotted lines show the Booker T. Homes
neighborhood in Landover, Maryland, our site
resides. We picked this site because it holds a 91%
black population. Landover also has a rich history
of Black culture, racial inequality, racial insensitivity,
and a current influx of Black artists. Because of
this, we believe a Black Utopia will impact this
community significantly. Our actual project doesn’t
rely on the strict dotted line; however, our Utopia
should be read organically like the colored blobs
growing further into other neighborhoods.
The purple represents the grouped
multigenerational units, and the pink represents
units that can be purchased and rented separately.
The green represents kitchens/community kitchens.
One of the key distinctions between the two is that
the purple units hold a private kitchen while the
pink individual units hold community kitchens.
Additionally, we investigated how we
could us the existing as the material
to braid
We wanted the Utopia to live in this high contrast vivid dreamscape. The Utopia’s site has a tiling mosaic effect that references Black artists. We
referenced artists like Derrick Adams, Kehinde Wiley, Amanda Williams, and Mowalola, to engulf the tenants in a field of Black Art, color, and
inspiration. The graphics representation manifests itself in tiling, gravel, and playscape forms. In the plan above, we used a triangular parting style
to organize the units and project, then dissolved those lines to not reinforce colonial property ideals.
Here in the section, you can see how it's density illustrates a relationship that automatically creates spaces of care and community.
Interior render of the kitchen area
Massing model showing the model as interchangeable pieces
