THE [future] MIDDLE
[SITE] Wynwood, Miami, Florida
[PROJECT IN PROGRESS] since April 2020
[ABSTRACT] The future design intention for THE MIDDLE is in the grant acquisition process, seeking financial support for its construction. THE MIDDLE is an architectural installation intended to host community programs related to spiritual growth, mental health, environmentalism, womanhood, and social accountability. These programs are led by local non-profit organizations, spiritual teachers, and activists who are serving the Greater Miami area through their work, but do not have an adequate hosting environment. These individuals and organizations are hosting out of their homes or in small, rented office spaces, which limits the organizations’ programmatic capabilities and community accessibility. THE MIDDLE creates a public realm for people of all backgrounds to experience meditation classes, recycled clothing drives, women’s health discussions, urban farming workshop, and art exhibitions; giving less represented groups a platform for expression, learning, and educating. The space provides a creative and approachable atmosphere to explore both solidarity and self-love amongst neighbors.
The primary material, reclaimed wood, is warm and embracive drawing connections between man and earth. The pattern it illustrates is infinite and unrepeating like the unique and randomized compositions of nature and people. The mirror facilitates personal internal reflection, and simultaneously allows a person to see themselves amongst others, to witness a visual community.
People gaze through the reflection of the mirror catching eye contact with each other and themselves, stimulating an internal response to connection. The openings in the pattern of the wood represent the mind’s expansion through our interactions, the varying sizes relating to how we embrace ideas based on our own history, experiences, and emotional condition. The wood used to construct the work is repurposed to promote environmentalism and to harness reflections of the old that gets turned into the new; such as the process of broadening our world perspective, adapting to new normals, or restructuring broken social constructs.
