Mediating Conflict in Situ
Place
Corcoran School of the Arts and Design
RESPONSIBILITY
Design Research, Narrative Development,
Graphic Design, 3D Design, Activation Development, Construction Detailing, UX, UI Design, Model Making
What if disputed land could be activated to build empathy, alleviate hostility, and inspire compromise?
CONTEXT
The Corcoran's Exhibition Design thesis begins with a site. Research informs the narrative experience, graphic and spatial design, shown through a dissertation, defense, guidance document, and physical model.
CHALLENGE
McMillan Park was once used as a park space, filled with a diverse community. Below ground, its catacomb-like cells filtered water from the Potomac. Decommissioned and fenced off since WWII, the 26-acre site stands in the middle of staggering gentrification in NW Washington, DC, and is the focus of an ongoing battle between developers, community activists, and city officials.
MISSION
Place builds on placemaking principles to transform the site into a three month long interactive exhibition, designed as a conduit for resolution, inspiring a path forward for the community through the power of play, story, and collective action.
EXPERIENCE
Place encourages multiple levels of experience, physically and mentally. An interactive park space above ground allows for play, while a Community Think Tank below delves deeper into renovation proposals. An augmented reality app gives visitors insight into the past, present and future of the site, and chutes and ladders invite them to weave in and out of the experience. First-person stories can be found throughout, accentuating the human side of the debate.
Spatial and environmental graphic design leverage the unique qualities of the space, encouraging observation of McMillan's design and inspiring an appreciation for its history. For example, ten of the 2100 manholes are activated as wayfinding, guiding visitors to and through the site with the wisdom of urban planners.
The repetitive, rhythmic nature of the site and circular form of the manhole are carried through the experience design to signify timelessness, unity, and community.
OUTCOME
As the culmination of my graduate school education, this project put my technical skills into practice, while also empowering me to dive into research and narrative development. In the process I learned how to balance the push and pull of design and content in favor of a cohesive experience.
In case you're curious to know how McMillan Park is doing these days, it's still sitting behind its fence, steeped in controversy and debate in the middle of the most rapid growth and development in the country.