Project by Harrison Davies and Pawa Osathanugrah
Casita Collective aims to pay homage to the immigrant history of Loisaida by re-incorporating immigrant focused housing into the neighborhood, something that has not been done in recent history. As a team, Harrison and Pawa examined the roots of Loisaida as an important port of entry into New York first for English and Dutch, then German, Jewish, Ukrainian, Polish, and Puerto Rican migrants all seeking to make a home in the United States. Focusing on food as a main stay of Immigrant life and culture along with places of refuge, Casita Collective aims to meld immigrant housing with collective kitchens and gardens that define the building. The team was also inspired to re-produce the Casitas which were once common places of community and organization in the LES, engaging with this architecture in a novel way that respects the traditions that formed it.
