By: Josh Rucinski
The thesis is Orphanages in the City, and there has been a lot of hemming and hawing on where the site should be. Originally the site was to be in the United States, but there is a foster care system in the United States, that is largely broken in my opinion but is a functional juggernaut in any case. After a lot of research it could be argued that the future of orphan care in the United States may shift back to larger institutional settings like the public orphanage, but there is certainly no consensus.
The second site setting the thesis was drawn to was Haiti. There is a strong need for compassionate care of orphans in Haiti, yet there is little information to work with about Haiti. The internet is largely blank on the issue. Where is very important in architecture, the where of the project will define many aspects, from success of the program to the success of the building. Without the background information necessary to continue with Haiti, I felt the site would have been quite false as I do not know anything about the orphans themselves, nor the area they inhabit, nor is there a lot of compelling information about either online. There is a lot of antidotal information but statistics are difficult because the Haitian Government does not even have the means to perform census.
Chicago, particularly Bridgeport became the site. I did a lot of work of site analysis, but throughout the work I was largely operating with little inspiration or passion about the work. Since the programmic requirements of an orphanage requires orphans and since almost all orphans live in foster care, was I chasing a dragon? Something unreal.
Reset again, this time Egypt. I am hoping that I will be able to find a happy medium in pooling the information I've gleaned about Egyptian Orphans and apply it along with professional experience of SIU alumi to have an inspiring program.
So to recap, isn't about Ethics after all? I want to place an orphanage in the best possible place. Isn't that someplace that there is a wealth of information and yet a high need at the same time? The United States has a wealth of information, but low need. Haiti has a high need, but no information hardly. Egypt seems to have both.
The thesis is Orphanages in the City, and there has been a lot of hemming and hawing on where the site should be. Originally the site was to be in the United States, but there is a foster care system in the United States, that is largely broken in my opinion but is a functional juggernaut in any case. After a lot of research it could be argued that the future of orphan care in the United States may shift back to larger institutional settings like the public orphanage, but there is certainly no consensus.
The second site setting the thesis was drawn to was Haiti. There is a strong need for compassionate care of orphans in Haiti, yet there is little information to work with about Haiti. The internet is largely blank on the issue. Where is very important in architecture, the where of the project will define many aspects, from success of the program to the success of the building. Without the background information necessary to continue with Haiti, I felt the site would have been quite false as I do not know anything about the orphans themselves, nor the area they inhabit, nor is there a lot of compelling information about either online. There is a lot of antidotal information but statistics are difficult because the Haitian Government does not even have the means to perform census.
Chicago, particularly Bridgeport became the site. I did a lot of work of site analysis, but throughout the work I was largely operating with little inspiration or passion about the work. Since the programmic requirements of an orphanage requires orphans and since almost all orphans live in foster care, was I chasing a dragon? Something unreal.
Reset again, this time Egypt. I am hoping that I will be able to find a happy medium in pooling the information I've gleaned about Egyptian Orphans and apply it along with professional experience of SIU alumi to have an inspiring program.
So to recap, isn't about Ethics after all? I want to place an orphanage in the best possible place. Isn't that someplace that there is a wealth of information and yet a high need at the same time? The United States has a wealth of information, but low need. Haiti has a high need, but no information hardly. Egypt seems to have both.
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