With the return of the Old P.S. 64 building to the community of the East Village, many are excited to see it transformed into a community space it once was during the period after its decommission as a public school.
The standard H-shape of the building provided ample amount of plaza space, but its protected structure from when it was still a school building is still present with its elevated entrance and blocked off access on the 10th Street.
This project reimagines the long-unoccupied building with community access in mind, while also echoing culinary and performative identities of the East Village with a more careful look into the players behind these two industries.
From the data found, many of the workers in these two industries who reside in the East Village, have to commute long distance to work elsewhere. Furthermore, there are visible disparity between average incomes, with those working in food industries being significantly lower than those in performance industries.
Henceforth, the composition of programs within this new building will prioritize free-roaming of community members from the street to the coveted rooftop view, while also using the main performance stage as an anchor for food businesses within the building.
