Women, Care, and Housing: Envisioning New Housing Cooperative Models for Sunset Park’s Immigrant Communities initiated in the fall of 2018 as part of Design and Urban Ecologies Studio 1. Students worked closely with Beyond Care, a worker cooperative led by immigrant women providing childcare services in Brooklyn, which became a partner during the previous semester. As part of this project, a number of workshops, working sessions, and discussions around housing cooperatives and Community Land Trusts were organized in collaboration with Beyond Care members to work toward the design of a new model of housing cooperative for their families. The New Economy Project, the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, Riseboro Community Partnership, were part of those conversations. The Center for Family Life, a long-time partner of Beyond Care, was also a key collaborator as well as Milano’s Community Development Finance Lab led by Kevin McQueen. A group of students from this lab worked on the financial models of the housing proposals and joined the DUE students in community meetings and other activities in Sunset Park. Besides housing, this project also focused on the role of women in urban practices and transforming communities. Students considered the leadership role of Beyond Care members in the community and worked closely with them developing four design strategies leading to the creation of cooperative housing.
The research and housing proposals were disseminated in two reports: The Sunset Park Research Report and The Sunset Park Design Proposals Report.
Coordinator
Gabriela Rendón, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Community Development.
Team
Ana Correa Do Lago, Mariana Kiwi Barros, Alfonso Supetran, Obianozo Chukwuma, Calla Hajosy, Aditi Nadir, Sana Akram, Akiera Charles, Maanasa Sivashankar, Jacqueline Castañeda Nuñez, Ameera Issa, Steven Davis, Courtney Sprigg, and Regis Kijnekamp.
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