Gra[in]vincible

This thesis is about the stitching of a community back together at a scale that is appropriate to the existing demographics. The memory of place and time are still evident in the relics that are the Buffalo Grain Elevators; the only changing variable is the rate of population and affordability in the adjacent Old First Ward.

The economic downturn of big business and the havoc it wreaked on the worker community created a ripple effect in large enough scale to grab hold of an entire city. In an attempt to bulldoze rust covered structures and knock down abandoned homes rather than revive the existing fabric, the dilemma between saving the city’s heritage or starting new is born.

This project creates a conversation about appropriate inclusion of community as a whole, marrying the negotiation of industrial boundaries and community access. It aims at penetrating through implied and physical borders to create a conscious fluidity using green ways, visual connectivity, defining public and semi-private space, and local participation.