Category
Environmental
Role
Research | Design | Team Coordinator
PHOTOGRAPHY
Julio Aguirre | Isabella Serimontrikul
Nadia Tran | Sicily Dickenson
Jason Cardenas | Isaac Sanchez
Nadia Tran | Sicily Dickenson
Jason Cardenas | Isaac Sanchez
AWARD
ENCOUNTER: Meeting Points on Buffalo Bayou is a large-scale public engagement effort and site-based installations at 6 locations along the in-development East Sector of the Buffalo Bayou in Houston, TX. The goal is to bring awareness of these sites to Houstonians and seek their feedback for future park amenities, by connecting people to place through concepts of connectivity, inclusivity, and authenticity.
As a collaboration between the University of Houston Graphic Design and Creative Writing programs, the students teamed up in groups of 5 to 6 to design and fabricate site-specific installations and engagement strategies for the community at 6 locations along the East Sector of the Buffalo Bayou.
Allen's Landing team members included Bruce Chao, Jon Inthavong, Julio Aguirre, Jose Rivera, and Nadia Tran.
Located in Downtown Houston, Allen's Landing marks the birthplace of the city and the original port of Houston, at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou. The site became the natural starting point for the East Sector, guiding viewers eastwards to other sites.
The concept for Allen’s Landing is to highlight the unique attributes of the six featured sites of the ENCOUNTER project. The group created large-scale graphic cubes that serve as beacons as well as interactive points.
At this a predominantly text-based installation, the public is encouraged to investigate each location and personally reflect on the sites’ significance.
On the top face of each cube, we provided a prompt to give an opportunity for the community to write down thoughts and ideas related to future plans along their bayou and green spaces.
To help participants explore one site to another, we developed a passport that included information about the event and a map, highlighting 6 sites. We also created an incentive for participants to collect stamp at each site they visit, and if they collect all 6 stamps, they receive a souvenir pin of ENCOUNTER. Consistent large-scale markers are also installed at each site to help visitors identify the sites effectively.
Site-to-site Strategy Team: Nadia Tran, Bruce Chao, Camila Ruiz, Erick Velazquez, Valentina Gutierrez, Vianey Torres.
THE PROCESS
