Reclaiming Plaza Hutchison. A Counter-project to State-led Gentrification in Parc-Extension, Montreal
Rooted in Parc-Extension, one of Montreal’s vibrant worker and immigrant neighborhood fighting for spatial justice, Reclaiming Plaza Hutchison proposes to rehabilitate a vacant industrial building owned by the city into decommodified community housing. Exploring surplus property as a vessel for visioning change from within, it attempts to redefine traditional urban planning towards an open process governed by local expertise and aspirations. The project stems from a collaboration with local organization Brique par Brique and a shared desire to formulate a reparative response to the current “unhoming.” As a first step in this process, the thesis Coproducing a Just and Resilient City investigates how locals meet the challenges of authoritarian planning and state-led gentrification by rallying around urban commons. It reveals a community working to preserve its cultural and collective motive, a territorial resilience woven beyond and against all the boundaries imposed by the speculative city. Onsite workshops and consultative activities therefore provide parameters for design outputs building upon existing mechanisms of coproduction and mutuality. A set of architectural interventions articulate new spaces for civic practices, social interaction as well as user agency within and around the housing block. They urge us to rethink urban territory through a vision of equitable resource sharing and restore Parc-Ex’s long-term stewards their right to the inner city.
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