Affordable Artist [Live|Work] Housing
Project Type
Participatory Research + Co-Design + Design Strategy
This was a participatory research and co-design project. It brought together a mixture of cross-disciplinary, Boston artists, to collectively identify and diagram necessary and optimal conditions for affordable artist live/work housing. This research, and the synthesis and design strategy which followed, informed the development of a new typology of affordable artist live/work housing in Boston.
Role
Program Manager
Mayor’s Housing Innovation Lab,
City of Boston
Partners
Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture
Department of Neighborhood Development
Project Timeline
Dec, 2016 - Apr, 2017
Cover page for the design guidelines, which were synthesized from the research and co-design processes of this project.
Challenge
There are significant challenges designing and constructing artist workspace, particularly one shared by multiple artists of distinct practices. It gets even trickier when the ambition is to make the space affordable to middle and low-income artists.
Considerable research must be done to understand each art practice need as well as optimal living/working conditions. This research is essential to inform livable and thriving artist live|work spaces.
Approach
I led a collaborative effort with departmental partners to design and facilitate a co-design and participatory diagramming workshop. 30 local artists from across the age, race, gender, and arts practice spectrum participated.
The workshop focused on How Artists Work, Where Artists Work, and What Artists Work On.
Outcome
Findings from the Artist Live/ Work Workshop were synthesized into a set of Design Guidelines. These guidelines were incorporated as an addendum to a Request for Proposals released to build on City-owned land. This led to the development of a new, affordable typology of artist live|work housing.