ABOUT AMARANTH
The Amaranth Bakery and its associated farmers market are a significant draw to members of the Washington Park Neighborhood. Amaranth Bakery is owned and operated by David Boucher, who has become a community leader through his work in Washington Park. Since its inception in 2015, a farmers market has provided vendor space for the Washington Park community, and has become a social event. Alchemy on Lisbon hosts live music on occasion, in conjunction with the farmer's market during the summer. The farmers market offers crafts, jewelry, artisanal products and fresh urban agriculture products throughout the summer season (Mid-July to Late September).
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CATALYTIC PROJECT: The Communal Fire Pit
Our catalytic project came as a result of our relationship with Dave Boucher and community engagement with the larger Washington Park community. Dave is very committed to growing the Amaranth Bakery and farmers market in the coming years. There already exists a stage and seating area on the eastern side of the Amaranth lot, that allow for live music and bands to perform following the farmers market as a part of Alchemy on Lisbon. However, after the farmers market has closed for the season, it usually lies unused until the next summer. In order to learn more about spaces like these, which can go from lively and social focal points during the summer to underused spaces during the rest of the year, we created a community engagement tool that would allow us to gain ample community input.
Our tool to gauge community opinion was a ring toss game which we employed during the October police block party. We had participants play for prizes by tossing their ping pong ball into one of an array of cups and answering the question found within said cup. Each member of our team had a series of questions which topics ranged from: Land Use, Lighting, Safety, Public Art, Family and Community Events. From the community responses, we gained further insight into our community and were able to formulate our catalytic design.
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The idea for a fire pit was the result of our community engagement and the evaluation of the future needs of the farmers market and community. By creating a social space which expands the seasonal use for this site, we were able to provide a lively environment for social interactions going into the fall months at Amaranth. |
INDUVIDUAL PROJECTS
Our final project was to look at a site in the Washington Park neighborhood and create a
catalytic design at the building scale. Below, you will find links to our individual projects.
catalytic design at the building scale. Below, you will find links to our individual projects.