Zijie Jiang (quella)
An interesting soul from China, who likes to deal with various and complex user needs in the design process, and also loves and tries different space challenges. Most of my space creations are based on the needs of independent users, but recently I have paid more attention to the needs of vulnerable groups in difficult times.
For example, my graduation project was about building a community for refugees and victims of domestic violence, helping them learn vocational skills, rebuild confidence, and plan for the future during difficult times.
CROSS THE BORDER
The term border refers to both the national border that refugees cross when seeking asylum, and the border crossing from hardship to a new life.
For victims of domestic violence, the boundary they need to cross is the boundary from being dependent on others to living independently.
Vulnerable groups almost completely lost their livelihoods during the pandemic due to the coronavirus.
The plight of refugees and abused people are particularly acute, as they are at an important turning point.
POLLOK COMMUNITY HUB
Focuses on developing residents’ life and work skills, while providing friendly and enjoyable recreational activities.
Former Pollok Community Centre and Social Services Centre 134 Langton Rd, Glasgow G53 5DP.
The new pollok community hub consists of the original community center and social service center, retaining some old social activities and services, and adding new residents.
In this design, refugees and victims of domestic violence will be housed around the new community hub to facilitate daily recreational activities, study sessions, counseling, skills training, prayer of faith at the Pollock Community hub.
HOW I CONDUCT DATA AND INFORMATION ANALYSIS
The main residents of the Pollock Community hub are refugees and victims of domestic violence.
My analysis focuses on their need for material and spiritual help during times of transition.
Overcoming difficulties, how do they start a new life?
How does the Pollock community work during these special times,？
I began to imagine being one of them to understand their needs.They are roughly divided into two categories as shown in the figure, spiritual and material.
When refugee groups come from different countries in different regions, this means that they may have different customs, different living habits, different national festivals, and different religious beliefs.
The purpose of the Pollock community is not to be based on different groups of people. While tailoring the activity space, try to find a balance among them, and let the residents themselves make a good impact on the community and try to create a comfortable atmosphere and space.
The same is for resident victims of domestic violence in the community.
The community tries to keep them away from the plight of the past, learn, recuperate, and develop new self-confidence and future work skills in the community hub, which probably applies to most vulnerable people group.
Metal/ceramic/wood workshop
Vegatable garden/market Donation station(food/books/newbornsupplies/winter wear/school supplies)
Quiet zone (painting/texitle/computer learning studio)
Residents ID registration station
Playground (indoor)
Merchandise shop
Book libary(skill books )
Work out zone Psychothreapy/Physiotherapy space
Green garden (cusual chat)
GP register station and threapy room
Event space with kitchen(for groups)
Lounge for stuff and residents(tea/ food )
The needs of residents will directly affect the spatial design of the community hub.
RETAIL/MEETING SPACE
The community center is divided into left and right two-story buildings,
connected by an art corridor in the middle.
The first floor on the left is a retail and meeting space. After taking into account the needs of the community’s residents, the community specially designed donation stations, handcraft retail stores, GP clinics, and ID registration offices. This space setting is for better to help refugee groups adapt to the new environment and meet their living needs.
CREATIVE SPACE
The ground floor on the left is the creative space,
which mainly provides the residents with a space for learning and skill training. The Pollock Community Hub provides a library for independent study and reading, and also has a relatively independent group course space in the learning area.
In order to help residents integrate into the modern technological society, computer multimedia learning space is also essential. In addition, the reading materials in the children’s reading area are donated by the society.
In addition to the learning of skills and knowledge, the community also encourages residents to create by hand, such as wood workshops, metal workshops, painting spaces and textile spaces. It can be practiced for a career, or it can be a living by creating profits from handicraft works from different national cultures.
RECREATIONAL SPACE
The ground floor on the right side of Pollock is the leisure and entertainment space, which is connected to the two-story building on the left by the art corridor.
The art corridor can display the wooden crafts, textiles and art works of the residents in the studio, so the art corridor is open to the public.
Leisure spaces provide prayer rooms and a gym for regular exercise for residents of religious affiliation. In order to take care of the psychological conditions of refugees and victims of domestic violence, a special psychological counseling room has been designed.Taking into account the time spent by the employees’ residents in the community center on a daily basis, the recreational space includes a lounge for 30-40 people, where residents can rest and eat, and an open kitchen space that residents can use to celebrate their different festivals. The leisure space also includes an outdoor square garden and a square market.
