Students worked to understand the urban context of the site through historical, demographic, and spatial research. They also met with key neighborhood stakeholders, including elected officials, residents, business owners, and community activists. These individuals shared the opportunities and challenges for the neighborhood and the site. Each student identified a particular need for the community, and developed an adaptive reuse proposal based on the specific need.
The students' work was exhibited at the site, and a public presentation of the work shared the inspiration and ideas from the studio with stakeholders and potential developers.
The studio also produced a book (Inclusion & Neighborhood Resilience: Designing for Equity in Post Industrial Cities), summarizing their research and the proposals, as a reference for IISTL as they pursue future development of the building.
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Social Sustenance: Nurturing Change
Daniel Aguilera
The site’s direct connection to S. Grand Blvd. and the existing building are the fabric on which program, design and intent were concentrated. The building presented for adaptive reuse was originally the South Buick Auto Center, a structure capable of vehicle occupation on each floor, including the roof. The elevated rate of youth crime and the lack of activity space in the community brought about an idea for an alternative to re-incarceration, low employment rates and low educational and economic mobility for those individuals convicted of crimes between the ages of 17-25. Social Sustenance proposes a food truck incubator catered ...Read More
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Trade(in) Space: International Incubator
Lindsley Etienne
Immigrants and refugees come into the United States with vast amount of skills and traits, but are not always granted the opportunity to showcase them. The International Business Incubator creates the opportunity for incoming refugees and immigrants to have a space that allows them to startup their own businesses. Incubation is defined as something that develops or produces or hatches. The space proposed is experienced through physical and visual connections that provide the guest with the ability to witness the production. The Incubator provides a series of spaces that our linked to classrooms, where guest can come learn how to ...Read More
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The Third Space: Creating a Community Anchor
Suzannah Grasel
Third Space is a civic space that proposes journalism as a programmatic outlet for the Gravois Park and immigrant communities of St. Louis. Throughout history, journalism has been an invaluable platform and voice for marginalized communities through Foreign Correspondents Clubs [FCC]. FCCs are hubs where journalists, correspondents, diplomats, and citizens convene within the community. In these spaces community and club members can create periodicals, host forums and exhibitions, network with fellow members, learn about topical issues, reference libraries, and generally engage with their community in a meaningful way. Third Space provides these resources concurrently with a digital library to the ...Read More
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Interactive Education
Savannah Hecker
The building was constructed in 1926 as the Southside Automobile Company’s service center. The automotive industry has been an integral part of St. Louis’ history and precedents along Grand Blvd. My intention is to transform the building back to the historic use, bringing the lively nature of the automotive industry back to this area of Grand. The automotive service in St. Louis is still thriving and within the St. Louis area, and I propose a Trade School for Automobile Service. The School will have a service learning so parents and students will be able to work during their training. There ...Read More
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Early Beginnings: Inclusive Early Head Start Program
Amanda Malone
Gravois Park is a unique neighborhood for its density and diversity, yet it is troubled with issues of economic disparity and crime at a rate similar to north St. Louis. Research shows that low income and education lead into crime. Gravois Park confirms this by showing the lowest education levels of degrees attained within the City of St. Louis, along with some of the highest high school dropout rates for the public schools. School readiness, particularly among poor children, may help prevent the cascade of consequences of early academic failure and school behavioral problems. Specifically, the years before a child ...Read More
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Mountain Climbing Childhood
Xinzhi Pan
The proposal for the reuse of the Donna Brown Building was the result of the analysis of the public space layout on S. Grand Ave. This included an understanding of the qualities of the promenade created in the S. Grand Commercial District through a “street diet”, and the beautification of the streetscape. I was in particular interested in studying parking as it clearly affects walkability and circulation. Through a series of studies in plan and section, I was able to look at the different parking typologies that exist along Grand. It was apparent in this study that as a pedestrian ...Read More