Fifth Avenue/Pleasant Street
The Fifth Avenue/Pleasant Street Neighborhood (5aPS) is the historic center of Gainesville, Florida's African-American community. Between the Civil War and desegregation it operated as an independent town-within-a-town, providing for the commercial, educational, religious, entertainment and housing needs of Gainesville's African-American residents. However, since the 1960s this neighborhood, like many others throughout the South, has gone into decline. Long time residents and business owners have struggled to maintain their community in the face of crime and institutionalized economic policies that favor new construction over old, suburbs over the inner city and, sometimes, white over black.
This five-year project articulates an emerging role for the architect of the 21st century. Rather than remaining the passive recipients of the patron's commission--a Renaissance model--here architecture students and faculty initiated the process of creating a positive future for an inner city neighborhood. The project began with the premise that the neighborhood must be re-imagined--for its residents and exiles, and for the City's fathers, lenders, insurers and informal policy makers--before it can be rebuilt. A number of integrated strategies sought first to cast the neighborhood in a positive light, then to design affordable infill housing for families seeking to take part in the promise of America. The projects identified below were accomplished through one, or sequential architecture studios and seminars.
Remember Look Imagine. During the first semester graduate architecture students developed strategic plans, proposed new architectural interventions and developed a full-scale, real-time campaign including a neighborhood newsletter and posters.
Riffs and Licks: Developing an Improvisational Building Language. Like any tight-knit community, the Fifth Avenue/Pleasant Street neighborhood contains inventive architecture within narrow constraints. This vocabulary was studied and used by undergraduate architecture students to design 14 single-family houses. The houses were commissioned (pro bono) for the Neighborhood Housing and Development Corporation to be offered to potential residents as models for future construction.
Synchronous Urbanism. The 5aPS Web Page was created to link architecture and culture within the neighborhood while providing global links for local residents and local history for visitors. The web page also sought to undermine the emerging resegregation of society based on access to media. The site was designed and built by undergraduate architecture students, drawing on research done by graduate students during the previous semester. The address was circulated within the neighborhood during local festivals and remained active for several years.
Building a Constituency: The New Urbanism Link. A grant provided by the Florida Humanities Council allowed residents and community leaders from Gainesville to participate in two one-day exchanges with residents of Seaside, Florida focusing on their shared interest in architecture and community.
UF School of Architecture: ARC 6356 Fall 1996, ARC 6111 Fall 1996, ARC 4323 Spring 1997, ARC 6357 Spring 1999.
