We wanted to create an installation
that would relate to the existing architecture, not impose upon it. We arrived
at a vacant lot, where we could create an environment, which would be framed by
a building next door to an abandoned warehouse. Upon arriving at the site we
discovered the dirt in the vacant lot was a rich deep clay, which was an ideal
material for digging. We chose to dig into the ground because we wanted to
create a central focal point, which would help serve as an area where people
could congregate and use the space. By keeping the project low we would be
dealing more intimately with the ground, and the history and physical past of
the space we would be working in. Hoping to create a place that would evoke
nostalgia in the community and a sense of unity the project eventually took
shape. We decided a barbeque pit could invigorate the community, without
alienating it by producing a piece of abstract art, which might not be as
easily relatable. All of the materials
were found on site, using bricks and cinderblocks from a surrounding building. After
we harvested these blocks back to the lot they became the seating as well as
the framework for the barbeque pit.
The pit was not intended to be an
object but rather a piece of architecture, integrating into the landscape,
using natural elements to re-structure and re-purpose the environment. It was
important that members of the local community took part in the process of
creating the installation. First we found a man who was doing construction on a
nearby block, and after we explained our intent, we asked if he would
contribute any extra pieces of wood to our project. Once the project had
started we invited children who were playing in a nearby park to help build the
fire pit. The kids were extremely excited to participate, not only in the
making of the installation, but also in using the pit once it started to take
shape. Interestingly, almost immediately many of the children started to
discuss fond memories of camping and playing outside, already demonstrating the
transformative nature of something as modest, but also as symbolic as a
barbeque pit, in an empty lot. Leaving the site we were approached by a
neighbor who had been watching our building process through her window-- she
explained that she never intervened with our process because she didn’t see our
installation as a threat to her neighborhood. She recognized the space as somewhere
welcoming, but even more so she believed it would serve a purpose in the
community, as people would use the barbeque pit again. Our intent was to leave
the vacant lot with this small architecture in place as a simple threshold of
concrete and earth, which can serve as a pathway away from the abandoned
environment.
