Jeanne Gang: Building Community

 

Architecture is a form of art that has always fascinated me, and artists like Jeanne Gang are why. Architecture is more than the four walls and roof that form a building; it is the basis for everything that people do each day.  Jeanne Gang, the architect of the St. Regis, the fourth tallest building in Chicago, has often focused on how architecture can bring people together. For example, her building, the Aqua, was designed with staggered balconies because they allow neighbors across different floors to interact. She has often focused on natural patterns and designs that allow the community to grow and people to come together. In a city like Chicago, building intentional spaces for communities to gather allows people to feel less isolated. 

Architecture is a powerful tool often forgotten when trying to bring people together. When you walk up to most police stations in Chicago, they are intimidating and cold. Police departments and stations are meant to deter people from committing crimes, and are rarely associated with the community they are meant to serve. However, this has created a dangerous cycle of police violence and brutality rooted in fear rather than the police motto of “serve and protect.” In North Lawndale, a suburb of Chicago, city officials wondered if changing the imposing visage of the police station would change how the community viewed officers and if trust could be rebuilt. Gang was hired for the job and began designing a new station for the community, a Polis Station. Gang went into the North Lawndale community and asked what they wanted or needed from a community space. In her work, Gang started asking new questions about what a partnership between the police and the community could look like. Her design included community resources such as study space, mental health services, and a basketball court. The intention behind her design was to create a space where people would feel safe and are, therefore, more likely to report crimes and work with police. This station would also create an opportunity for officers to learn more about the people in their community and ultimately decrease the number of violent altercations with the police.

Gang’s design for the polis station is an excellent example of how motivation facilitates creativity. The city of North Lawndale wanted something different for their community, and Gang was motivated by this desire to change what a police station could look like. This is an example of extrinsic motivation driving innovation. If Gang was not given the job of creating a new kind of community space, these designs and new ideas would have never been created. Gang’s architecture is an incredible example of how art shapes the world. In The Creative Spark by Agustin Fuentes, Fuentes writes, “art is a way of being in the world.” In my opinion, no other artistic discipline shapes the world like art does. For Gang, this idea of shaping the world is her intrinsic motivation to continue designing and building. She wants to use her skills and buildings to bring people and communities together.

The next time you walk outside around buildings, take a moment to look at the architecture. I did this over the past week and noticed just how often architecture is designed for only certain people to come in and keeps most people out. For example, there is a church near my apartment that has a beautiful courtyard that is hidden from the sidewalk by a large gate, and people passing by can only see it if the gate is open. Architecture can form a community just as easily as it separates. If art and architecture are a way of being in the world, I want architecture that facilitates relationship-building rather than keeping people isolated. Gang has shown that community building is possible by the architecture surrounding people, and I know that most people would benefit from safer and more welcoming communities.