Lodi Oak Pocket Park
Creating a sense of homeplace,
adding warmth, nourishment and beauty
to this inactive, vacant neighborhood parcel
This studio module was a warm up to the bigger and more in depth urban planning and reparations work we would do later in the semester within the historic 15th ward of Syracuse, NY. This was a brief exercise to get us thinking about community needs, design, surrounding context, programming, and creating a space that felt like a homeplace.
I lived about about 1/4 mile up the road on Oak Street from this vacant parcel, I see a lot of houseless people passing through this area, along with every day people walking to and from school or work, there are also a variety of cultures living in the surrounding neighborhoods, organizations that serve the public good through food, employment and art/activism, and an elementary school across the street. A garden space, communal kitchen, and parklet area seemed like a fitting resource given the surrounding entities, organizations and community needs I see hugging all sides of this vacant focus site.
DATE
SPRING 2025
PROJECT LOCATION
DEACTIVATED TRIANGULAR CORNER LOT
LODI STREET AND OAK STREET
SYRACUSE, NY
PROGRAMS + TOOLS USED
HAND DRAWING, PENCIL, COLORED PENCIL
ILLUSTRATOR, PHOTOSHOP, DIGITAL CAMERA
LEARNING OUTCOMES
THIS PROJECT WAS OUR SEMESTER 'WARM UP', TO GET THINKING ABOUT WHAT MAKES A PLACE FEEL LIKE 'HOME PLACE'. WHAT ELEMENTS, WHAT FACTORS, WHAT FEELINGS BUILD THE PLACES WE CALL HOME? AND HOW DO WE INCORPORATE THIS INTO A PUBLIC DESIGN. FOR WHOM? WHERE? AND WHY?
I drew inspiration for this outdoor kitchen and parklet pedestrian walk through from a communal outdoor kitchen and garden space that the University of Washington design-build program designed and constructed in Perugia, Italy.
The project was called Orto Sociale (social garden) and provides a gardening space, shade pavilion for gathering, along with communal table and chairs and counter space for cooking and processing food from the surrounding garden space.
