CENTER FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

As Harvard has expanded its campus and development has continued over the river from Cambridge into Allston, there has been increasing concern from residents of Allston about the effect that Harvard will have on their neighborhood. The perceived encroachment of Harvard has created a necessity for space that not only includes the residents of Allston but emphasizes the benefits that Harvard can bring to the neighborhood while doing so.

This proposal of civic center is located at the intersection of the public library and SEAS. The site is positioned at a focal point between Allston residences, the Allston-Boston Public Library, and property owned by Harvard University. The ambition of this project is to speculate on the ways in which a built structure can reflect, strengthen, and shape the relationships, resources, and resilience of a given community.

This civic center is a figurative and literal bridge between Harvard and the Allston community; with it acting as a supplement to the already existing Allston-Boston Public Library, lengthening its pedestrian path and extending directly into the proposed development for expansion of Harvard’s campus. It is accessible and inviting to members of both the Allston and Harvard community. This applies to both the exterior and internal programming space. On a regular basis, the Civic Center will host seminars, roundtables, lectures, public forums, and other active events. It is both actively and passively alive. It can also host revolutionary creative’s and exhibit their work- however complex the medium might be. The civic center proudly opens up the space for public interactions and merges into the park. The objects trigger the engagement of two communities as they are multi-functional and can be transformed according to one’s requirement or for social fests such as farmers market, Christmas and Halloween parties, exhibitions etc. Given its multi-purpose functionality, the objects in their zero condition act like a playscape; or they look like beautiful sensory sculptures.