Thesis: Architecture of Cooperation

Efrain Cano and Alexa Wojchiewicz

Graduate/2016

We intend for the architecture of the Cultural Center of Humboldt Park to be a constantly evolving public event. At once open and permeable it should welcome behaviors as casual or precise as the user needs. This thesis explores architecture’s role in responding to and erasing the boundaries between existing and incoming populations. Our first instinct was not only to have the cultural center reflect the cultures in Humboldt Park, but also the physical attributes of the neighborhood. To reflect the individuality of the cultures each activity is housed within a highly specific and developed volume. Each of these volumes has the ability to adapt. Example programs might include boxing matches needing overflow space or theater performances sited outdoors. Extending over the entire site, the roof serves as a datum for marking the program variation. Near the center, it is a nearly opaque weather barrier which transitions to a trellis at the edges. The cultural center becomes a sensory landscape that connects Chicago from east to west which encourages the impromptu and the planned.

Interior View of Art Gallery
Aerial View
North Entrance
Site Model
Street View
Tectonic Massing Model
Transformative Public Courtyard
Transforming Program in Public Spaces
Transforming the Space
Program Organizational Study Models