After researching and studying the historic jazz clubs of the hill district, I learned of the community jazz provided for marginalized people in Pittsburgh.

 

In designing my intervention for Lawrenceville, I wanted to create a community space that would work to benefit a marginalized community in the area. The proposed intervention is a mixed-use building that serves residential and commercial purposes.

 

Through engaging in fieldwork, I noticed one community in particular that did not fit into the social framework of Lawrenceville, and that group was children. Despite the large public middle school between Central and Lower Lawrenceville, the commercial scene primarily comprises bars, tattoo parlors, and formal dining spaces. 

 

In my design, I desired to create a building form that would present as welcoming for children, contrasting the angular and mature building language developed by and for adults. 

 

To do this, I was concerned with finding ways to build spaces of play into the structure of the building through unconventional forms of circulation and entry, as well as an emphasis on indoor-outdoor space.

 

Finally, in the program space, I wanted to design a commercial space that would serve the needs of the middle school-age population that is made up of students from predominately low-income households.