Rehab the Suburb

In the past week I have spent quite a bit of time trying to evaluate what about my research thus far was useful and how it could become a thesis.  There is already so much research and so many books about the negative effects of suburbs and the positive of cities.  Jeff Speck has made his mark in urban theory by writing and speaking out on this subject.  How could my thesis project add to this argument in a meaningful way? 

                I do want to stay along this line of thought however because I do care about it so much.  In the last 510 class Randy mentioned that we should pick an idea that not only inspires us, but makes us made.  Mad enough that we can’t help but try to fix it.  That is what suburbs are to me.  I can’t stand that they continue to develop along the outskirts of our cities.  I hate that cities are viewed so often as obscenely dangerous and no place for a family.  I want to help save the image of cities; I want to destroy every little ticky tacky box build along senselessly winding roads.  I need to find a project where I can help create the transition from the suburb back to the city.

If the suburbs left for good the next question is what will we do when the suburbs are emptied and we are left with hundreds of Stepford ghost towns?  We as a society are already moving back to the city slowly.  The land is useless for agriculture after being developed so we will have to repurpose the empty streets.  Perhaps the project I need to be working on is an escape plan and rehabilitation of the American suburb.

                As I have been working through processing my ideas and research I have been working on the installation.  This weekend I have to create a small art installation inspired by my thesis thus far.  In such a sort amount of time it is difficult to decide what I will be able to accomplish.  I think that I want to do something that relates to the rise, fall, and rise of great cities.  Somehow showing the evolution of city life as well as incorporating craft vs. produced.  Cities are amazing and are slowing developed over decades.  They are planned to a degree but the real character and heart of a city comes from how it differentiates from anywhere else in the world.  Cities are crafted by their populace.  Suburbs on the other hand are pumped out by developers as quickly as possible.  They are produced like a car in an assembly line.  Hopefully I will be able to transform 15” of wall space into these ideas.