‘Seattle Resource Hubs’ presented with Award of Merit at 2019 AIA Seattle Honor Awards
“…The audacity of saying – let’s take this thing that is so wrong, and let’s turn [it]…into something that is good.” – Lisa Matthiessen, Juror
Seattle Resource Hubs, SKL’s conceptual vision to dismantle the US-Mexico border wall and repurpose the structural material as a network of resource hubs for immigrant and refugee communities, was presented with an Award of Merit at Monday’s Honor Awards for Washington Architecture.
Our proposal sought to answer the question “What does a Sanctuary City look like?” Partnering with ReWA’s youth program (Refugee Women’s Alliance), we focused on accessibility, visibility, and connectivity in response to the urban/suburban disparity between white Americans and communities of color. The Hubs are flexible, programmed spaces where refugees can access government agencies, healthcare, education, recreation and legal aid. The Hubs could also provide street-level visibility for urban commerce, art, and activity. By attaching Hubs to parking garages and transit stations, we harness the existing regional transit network to provide connections, serving refugee and immigrant communities that tend to live beyond the borders of the city.