This website uses cookies as well as similar tools and technologies to understand visitors' experiences. By continuing to use this website, you consent to Columbia University's usage of cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with the Columbia University Website Cookie Notice
The project introduces the idea of a communal kitchen situated in Chinatown, where one of the largest immigrant communities has been battling gentrification and other political and cultural issues. Urban development has always been an ongoing process that shifts social structure and reconfigures neighborhood context, in which buildings are demolished, businesses are flushed out, and residents are forced to relocate. Within these neighborhoods, micro-communities began to form as a result of shared culture, background, or experiences. The project proposal is to provide an urban common space that serves as a medium between the city and the people, a place where they can call a second home. The design intervention identifies food preparation as the commonality that draws people together and instigates social interactions in context to the neighborhood, along with supporting programs that adapt to the additional needs of the residents.