THIS WORK IS WITH THE COOPER UNION HOUSING INITIATIVE UNDER DAISY AMES AND GUIDO ZULIANI FOR:
LAYERS OF SOCIALIZATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Marcus Garvey Park Village
Completed in 1976
Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies
Architects: Arthur Baker, Kenneth Frampton, Richard Wolkowitz
Completed in 1976
Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies
Architects: Arthur Baker, Kenneth Frampton, Richard Wolkowitz
Excerpt from the publication draft (Zuliani 2024):
Marcus Garvey Village is positioned next to the Brownsville Houses, contrasting the "tower in the park" with low-rise high-density housing. Typologically, this housing model is similar to that of the Nehemiah housing, or other freestanding models within Brownsville; however, the sectional relationship between units and the ground is a point of invention. The stoop engages with the street. acting as a room that operates between the public and private. However. The lower half of the site beneath the Livonia train lines deferred from the architectural intent of the street. Rather than tucking the stoop underneath the facade's overhang, producing enclosure, the contractor decided the stoop should be a straight entry, eliminating its role as a space of urban engagement.
The half-level sectional shift between the lower unit, the traditional "parlor floor", and the first floor allows for a backyard that is pushed into the ground plane. Upon entering the mews, the backyards are lower than that of the public spaces. Although the project was developed with Oscar Newman's ideas of "defensible space" in mind, the concealed mews and lowered backyards produce obscured lines of visibility. The change in materiality from the original plan also contributes to a change in the perception of space; the chain link fences that define the backyards detract from the private space, whereas the architectural intent was brick.
The variety of circulatory configurations between the street unit and the mew unit allows for a range of living structures to unfold within Marcus Garvey Village. Ranging from duplexes to single living, this model provided an opportunity to cultivate a diverse community, ranging in age and socioeconomic status.
The book is the product of work funded by 2023-2024 Cooper Union President Grant, awarded to architecture faculty Daisy Ames and Guido Zuliani. Ames and Zuliani have been working alongside a multidisciplinary cohort of faculty and students to create a prototype for a future “lab” at Cooper Union for the advancement of housing studies. The fund has supported four architecture students Meztli Castro Asmussen, Jasper Meikle, Jasper Townsend and Yinqing Zhu, one art student Zaid Arshad, and one engineering students Sreevarshini Karthikeyan. Faculty Advisors included: prof. Fia Backstrom (Art), prof. Cynthia Lee (Eng.), and prof. Ninad Pandit (UHSS).