The project, titled Healing Spaces, is an investigation on how the practice of care in architecture can contribute positively to the well-being of a person. This is particularly important for East Village since it is a neighborhood that is and has been experiencing change over time as highlighted by the transformation of St Mark’s church. This has led to social problems such as homelessness, loss of arts, replacement of legendary spaces and potentially placing other sites such as gardens at risk of gentrification. It is from this angle that my proposal seeks to provide care for the displaced persons, the dying arts, and preserve the gardens. The proposal seeks out to answer the following set of questions. Using homelessness as the primary protocol of care how can we integrate the three protocols to create a space of healing? How does a space of healing actually look like? Is the space pure and stable, serving the primary functions of care for human bodies? A space integrated with plants and arts to improve wellness? How can the space be used over time? Can the structure be temporal, assembled, and disassembled over time hosting different functions of the space? How can it be used in different seasons such as winter and summer?
