01
HOK Futures Competition
“I don’t know why nobody comes to redesign this place.
There’s so much space for the kids. These kids at the
Masjid just have so much energy! They gotta blow it off,
you know? You guys are architects, right? Let the city
know we want space too.”
—Neighborhood Pedestrian
Communal Fabric pursues a more local expression of the “urban fabric” of Mill Creek by crafting a new site for synergies of local program and public commons via connection, continuity, and meandering landscape. The existing site is embraced as part of the fabric of the local neighborhood, and celebrated in the articulation of a new maternal resource center which borrows its character from the site’s original brick structure, now revitalized into a new public market.
The project’s footprint, openings, and connecting bridge allow for maximum interior and exterior communal space, and foster continuity between each building and important local sites like the neighboring Clara Muhammad Square, while the ground further challenges boundaries between various programs and spaces through a mix of seams, patterns and variable typologies that extend from exterior to interior, and invite the community to find joy in connectivity, contemplation, and nature. The site’s context includes the Philadelphia Masjid, numerous residential blocks
and a myriad of small businesses.
The proposal becomes an extension of Clara Muhammad Square, and allows for more green space to flow across N. 47th Street. Our proposal creates a playful and accessible landscape which works in accordance with the existing slope. As the parti diagrams showcase, our main goal was to preserve the building on site, and to be able
to open up the north eastern area of the site to create accessibility towards the Masjid. The maternal resource center’s design allows for patients to retain
their privacy as well as having a comfortable connection to the marketplace.
There’s so much space for the kids. These kids at the
Masjid just have so much energy! They gotta blow it off,
you know? You guys are architects, right? Let the city
know we want space too.”
—Neighborhood Pedestrian
Communal Fabric pursues a more local expression of the “urban fabric” of Mill Creek by crafting a new site for synergies of local program and public commons via connection, continuity, and meandering landscape. The existing site is embraced as part of the fabric of the local neighborhood, and celebrated in the articulation of a new maternal resource center which borrows its character from the site’s original brick structure, now revitalized into a new public market.
The project’s footprint, openings, and connecting bridge allow for maximum interior and exterior communal space, and foster continuity between each building and important local sites like the neighboring Clara Muhammad Square, while the ground further challenges boundaries between various programs and spaces through a mix of seams, patterns and variable typologies that extend from exterior to interior, and invite the community to find joy in connectivity, contemplation, and nature. The site’s context includes the Philadelphia Masjid, numerous residential blocks
and a myriad of small businesses.
The proposal becomes an extension of Clara Muhammad Square, and allows for more green space to flow across N. 47th Street. Our proposal creates a playful and accessible landscape which works in accordance with the existing slope. As the parti diagrams showcase, our main goal was to preserve the building on site, and to be able
to open up the north eastern area of the site to create accessibility towards the Masjid. The maternal resource center’s design allows for patients to retain
their privacy as well as having a comfortable connection to the marketplace.
Section Through Market and Maternity Clinic
Interior Render of Market
Site Axonometric
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Render of Market
Program Blocking Diagram