Middle School NYCHA Residents Redesign Community Center Spaces
In August, middle school students from Astoria Houses in Queens and Stanley Avenue Preservation (Linden and Penn-Wortman Houses) in Brooklyn presented their designs for reimagined youth-focused community rooms at their developments as part of the NYCHA STEAM Innovators program. Their designs will soon become a reality.
NYCHA STEAM Innovators is a new pilot program that gives young people a voice in community design efforts at their developments. It’s a partnership between the Salvadori Center and the Public Housing Community Fund; Salvadori is a long-time NYCHA partner that has provided its K-12 STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education program to many young NYCHA residents throughout the city for almost 20 years.
“Part of design justice is ensuring all stakeholders have a voice in community development, and that includes young people,” said Trenton Price, Executive Director of the Salvadori Center. “The students in this program learned about the built environment, how architects and engineers work, and even received ongoing feedback from professional designers to make their final floor plan and model proposals. We are so excited to see the thoughtful design ideas from our students throughout this summer partnership, and we can’t wait to see their visions realized.”
During the 20 sessions over five weeks in July and August, 14 middle school students from Stanley Avenue Preservation and 22 from Astoria Houses worked with Salvadori’s STEAM educators and professional designers to learn and create a design proposal for a room at their community centers. L+M Development Partners sponsored the Penn-Wortman site, whose students were part of on-site youth programming led by CAMBA, and the New York Building Foundation sponsored the Astoria site, whose students were part of on-site youth programming led by HANAC, Inc.
The young people surveyed their communities to hear about values, needs, and priorities; learned how to create a floor plan; and worked together to incorporate feedback from their neighbors and professional designers from L+M Development Partners and engineering firm WSP. Students also took field trips to the WSP offices, L+M offices, and creative reuse center Materials for the Arts.
At their presentations, the students exhibited digital floor plans, vision boards, and 3D models. They also took questions from local leaders, partners, and program sponsors during the event, explaining their concepts and proposals for the redesign.
Next up is bringing to fruition the young people’s visions in their community centers: The redesign at Stanley Avenue Preservation will begin this fall in partnership with the Public Housing Community Fund, L+M Development Partners, and C+C Apartment Management. The Astoria redesign will also begin this fall in partnership with the Public Housing Community Fund and the From Roots to Arts artist-in-residence program.
“Engaging NYCHA residents, particularly our youth, in the reimagining of the spaces they use daily is crucial to fostering a sense of ownership and pride in their communities,” said Public Housing Community Fund Executive Director Alex Zablocki. “These community rooms are the heart of our neighborhoods, where residents gather, connect, learn, and build relationships. By involving younger residents in the design process, we ensure that these spaces meet the evolving needs of the community, creating vibrant, welcoming environments for all to enjoy now and in the future, while educating them through Salvadori’s STEAM curriculum. We are excited to see their visions come to life over the next few months.”