+ SPACE will be a hub for local community issues related to climate resiliency and emergency preparedness. As a destination for community members for locally-specific information before and after an emergency, it will support a larger campaign by WE ACT to develop a community communication system and preparedness plan. + SPACE will demonstrate climate resiliency ideas with innovative components integrated into the kiosk structure and be a place for hands on workshops. In addition, it will create an activated public space and potentially be a link in a series of social hubs throughout the neighborhood. The Kiosk grew out of WE ACT’s Northern Manhattan Climate Plan published in 2015. After years of growing social inequality in the city and no clear plan for addressing the mounting climate crisis, residents of Northern Manhattan have created their own plan to confront the impacts of climate change by addressing long-standing disparities in political and economic power. The plus sign organizes gathering, enclosure, and demonstration spaces and creates a flexible framework for multiple iterations. It is a place of bringing together people and layered ideas of history, performance, resiliency and preparedness. The form is modular, replicable, and allows for phasing and transformation over time. A wood platform marks the spot, while the shade structure and supports articulate the plus sign three dimensionally, making it legible from above. The supports create an armature for sliding panels, walls, curtains, and other variations of infill and presentation of information.
[new construction]
