Jenni Wilga
ARCH-4980.3 | Carla Leitao, Adjunct Professor
DIASPORIC ORGANIZATION
Connectivity Through Informality
JENNI WILGA
The perpetual motion of humankind results in a global cultural exchange that has made the understanding of cultural identity increasingly complex. With the exportation of labor, goods and media, cultural boundaries are constantly blurred.
The Philippines constitutes a large portion of the global migrant population, resulting in multiple social consequences. Transnational families, stateless children, Americanization are all pieces of their dynamic cultural identity.
A study of informal spaces created through social events allow for a representation of empowerment and expression for people otherwise disconnected. The county fair has proven a key example of aggregate of space which is malleable and expressive of cultural material. The ability to disassemble and create intimacy within a large space has carried thematically throughout this project.
A large factor in the Filipino transnational family is the exportation of mothers to do domestic work in Hong Kong. Women are not allowed to bring their families, and leave their children with other caregivers. The only leisure time these women receive occurs each Sunday, when they gather in public spaces utilizing the most basic of materials. This time is used to connect with peers, send gifts home and to call their children.
How to enrich these interactions with the homeland while keeping these transnational mothers in charge of their spatial organization is the goal of this project.
Using the Rio de Janerio Olympics as an opportunity serves as the beginning of a paradigm shift within the realm of stadia of not only being a sports venue but also including the needs and concerns of the local communities. This thesis is to rethink the stadium to be built and assembled as parts with the intention of being separate and mobile as it travels to different parts of the city to stimulate socio-economic growth.