Proposition: Enhanced visual, physical, and perceptual accessibility of the Green Street Arts Center (GSAC) in downtown Middletown, CT, for both neighborhood residents and the community at large. Project: Through an analysis of the Arts Center’s existing parking lot, it was determined that the drive aisles were significantly oversized and a prospective 12’x48’ site was “found.” The Green Street Arts Center Outdoor Classroom/Urban Garden project began with a Playbook prepared by the North Studio initiative and developed through consultations with Arts Center staff, the North End neighborhood Action Team, and independent site analysis. Among the proposals in the Playbook, an outdoor classroom was proposed as an urban garden which would mediate the hard edges of the Center’s parking lot and the building. Coda: Extending the programming of the Arts Center outside the confines of its architectural enclosure and into the neighborhood, the classroom/garden provided much-needed outdoor educational space for the Center’s after-school programs. The project was adopted and funded by the city’s Department of Public works and built in Spring 2010, in time for a first wave of plantings.
View Original