GARFIELD INTER- GENERATIONAL LIVING

Building International Trust Competition Entry

Student Design Award of Merit, Society of American Registered Architects, PA Council 2013

Gold Award for Design, Society of American Registered Architects, National Council 2013

Date:
Summer 2012

Advisor:
Gerard Damiani

Collaborator: 
Karno Widjaja

The dissolution of Pittsburgh’s steel industry has left the city’s population to shrink acutely while leaving a steady body of elderly residents to age-in-place. Inter generational living is a response to Pittsburgh’s industrial past and budding future under the context of this rust belt phenomenon.

Parallel to the HOME competition brief, the proposal seeks to elevate the low-income and aging population of Garfield by promoting a supportive cohabitation and communal environment between the old and young.

The population decline attributed to The collapse of ‘Rust Belt’ Pittsburgh in the 1980s had not only resulted in the economic and social impairment of many of its neighborhoods, but specifically for Garfield, where income levels are well below par, the departure of young habitants increases the tax burden on extant young residents having to support the elderly generation that aged-in-place.

Today, local non-profit organizations such as cityLAB, the Penn Avenue Arts Initiative and the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation have been spearheading various initiatives to revive Garfield into an exciting hub for the greater community. The site is located in the midst of these developments, providing ample opportunities for community involvement.