This proposal is located in Newburgh, a city with the highest number of undocumented immigrants in New York. It proposes a new type of campus dotted across the city. Informed by both the immigrants’ main professions and the needs of the city, Sanctuary Campus comprises four interventions of diverse purposes and functions, which aim to serve both the immigrant community as well as gradually transform Newburgh together. The School of Urban Agriculture and Construction utilizes the vacant and abandoned plots and reoccupies spaces through new programs while renovating and reinforcing the derelict buildings through a new timber gridded structure. The Center of Health and Childcare transforms an underutilized parking lot connected to an adjacent hospital and integrates new health-related programs. Hovering above the city court, the School of Law and Journalism aims to empower the immigrant community through the education of immigration law as well as offer opportunities for intentional exposure, such as law consultation, protests, and media propagation. As an expansion of the basement and south wing of a Catholic church, the extension includes a mutual aid kitchen, community-run restaurant, and a language center, which caters for the insufficient spaces of the church and provides new spaces for communal collaboration.
