The project, done in collaboration with the Ecole Nationale Superieur D’architecture, was executed in 2013-2014 in the context of FACE’s OBA III project with the architecture students in courses P906 and P821. The project's objective was to help students develop faculties of comprehension and understanding of specific urban situations. In the context of their work, FACE played an facilitatory role as an interface for the students to both connect to the geographical context of their intended projects and also to allow for the participatory process to take place.

 

Students worked in the architectural and sociological sphere known as the “Grandes ensembles” (large-scale government housing projects). They dealt with public housing complexes in La Courneuve, as well as housing in the neighborhoods of Harlem and the Bronx in New York City. They drafted and worked in situ in La Courneuve and in NYC mapping, drafting, and creating to reimagine public spaces and residences.

 

The challenge was for each student to see how they could transform a specific location and reimagine the space to illicit change through architecture. The work questioned the general loss of public faith around whether or not they really have a voice in the context of urban renewal projects. It looked at past and current methods of consulting the inhabitants of these spaces in regards to their environment. This collaborative effort resulted in projects that explored the use of public land in the context of democracy.

Through formal presentations on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, students from ENSA worked to bring to the forefront the voices of communities that often feel that their voices are systematically stifled in regards to urban renewal projects.