To kick off the semester, the new Community-Build studio spent the last week exploring our site at Plymouth Park and the city of Charleston as a whole to understand the entire context of where we’ll all be working and building.
Located in the Riverland Terrace community, Plymouth Park serves as a local gathering point with park space, a public dock, and a baseball diamond. Being newly constructed on the site is a new children’s playground, and our project, which will be a new public gazebo. We plan to spend the next few days thinking about the site, conducting research, collecting precedents, and formulating ideas to present to our client, the city of Charleston. Images at this location include the park wrapped in temporary construction fencing and the rocky view of Wappoo Creek.
Additionally, the class participated in multiple walking tours around Charleston, learning more about the city’s history and culture. We visited classic tourist destinations like Rainbow Row, but also learned many details throughout the peninsula that most visitors would likely not be taught. This walk helped us gain insight on the styles, history and overall context of Charleston. This will help inform our design process and serve as initial inspiration for the handful of students who will be working internships in the city this semester. 