So, after thinking theoretically about immigration and cultural identity for the past month, it's time to start translating these ideas into what will become an architectural project. What does it mean to be an immigrant, struggling between assimilation into the host society and a sense of abandoning the homeland? In the context of the divided city, this internal tension becomes even more palpable. To help solve this question architecturally, I will focus on the West Indian diaspora in Boston, specifically in Dorchester, and create a mixed-use program for New Immigrant Transitional Housing with social and community space at ground level. Specific programmatic elements and site location are still being determined and will follow shortly.
Some resources I'm using are:
Cairns, Stephen. ‘Drifting: Architecture and Migrancy.’ New York: Routledge (2004).
Johnson, Violet M. ‘The Other Black Bostonians: West Indians in Boston, 1900-1950 (Blacks in the Diaspora)’ Indiana: Indiana University Press (2006).
Ed. Oakes, Timothy S. and Patricia L. Price, ‘The Cultural Geography Reader’ Routledge, New York (2008)
Cohen, Robin, ‘Global Diasporas: An Introduction (2nd Edition)’ Routledge, New York (2008)
Ed. Çinar, Alev and Thomas Bender, ‘Urban Imaginaries: Locating the Modern City’ University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis (2007)
Tuan, Yi-Fu, ‘Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience’ University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis (1977)
