PARADOS COMMUNITY

community center + housing + theater

 

prologue: setting the scene

THE SITE: A brick building sits abandoned in the hills on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo, CA. The former mental asylum, orphanage and juvenile detention facility has survived 2 fires, several deaths, and 40 years of abandonment. It now sits derelict, surrounded by chain link fencing and KEEP OUT signs as well as the remnants left behind by those who have ignored both over the years. Some believe it to be haunted. It is known as “Sunny Acres.”

 

THE “CLIENT”: Transitions Mental Health Association - a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating stigma and promoting recovery and wellness for people with mental illness through work, housing, community, and family support services – wants to reinvent Sunny Acres as a place for those struggling with mental illness, addiction, and homeless to come together and rebuild their lives.

DESIGN DIRECTIVES:

  1. Design community center for residents and community members

  2. Provide housing for residents struggling with mental illness and homelessness

  3. Incorporate unspecified programmatic element to bring community and residents together and give residents opportunities for self-advancement

PROJECT MISSION:

  1. CONNECT the residents and the community

  2. RENEW the site of so much tragedy

  3. REINVENT Sunny Acres and the lives of its residents

 

act 1: community center

The community center guides the occupants’ views down the hill and encourages them to congregate in an outdoor meeting space that acts as a transition between public and private space.

 

act 2: housing

The residential buildings step up the hill on the highest portion of the site, allowing the residents a sense of refuge. The community consists of two identical residential buildings, each consisting of 32 studio apartments.  The units are centered on a central axis, an open community space that steps with the rest of the building, encouraging residents to share in the sunset cresting behind the gorgeous San Luis Obispo hills.

 

act 3: theater

“Parados” – a passageway into the orchestra of a Greek theater used by both audience and chorus – a place where actor and audience for a moment became one

The centerpiece of Parados Community is also where its name originates – the theater. Sitting between the community center and the housing community on the site, the theater is where the community and residents blend together and begin connection. It offers:

OPPORTUNITY - Running a theater and company requires dozens of positions, from actors to marketing directors to accountants to possibly even chefs, if the theater also includes a restaurant (like this one). This theater provides jobs for residents and opportunities to learn new skills of all kinds.

THERAPY - Drama therapy is commonly used to treat a number of conditions including mental illnesses and addictions. The theater will prove not only valuable in developing work skills but also therapy of both an explicit and implicit nature.

CONNECTION - The stigma of mental health will only be ended through human connection. The theater can bring people together like few other things I’ve seen. It’s a place we can go to listen to shared stories and have shared experiences. On the stage, all colors of human emotion are welcome, not just the happy and comfortable ones. Through the safe discussion of these emotions we can gain insight into the minds and hearts of others who, on the inside, may be more like ourselves than they first appear.