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February 8, 2021

Exploring the Architecture of the Carnival in West Philly

A crowd of people in a Philly street gather in front of a foldout stage with two musicians performing
Group M, one of the winning teams, designed a float that creates different spaces for different activities at several stops along the parade route: “a raised platform for sharing stories and encouraging activism, a podium for speeches and leadership, a stage to dance and sit around as a community,” according to the group. The group selected the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign as a partner organization. The student members were: Taylor Beck, Sok In Ho, Andy Hu, and Xiang Li.
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A crowd of people in a Philly street gather in front of a foldout stage with two musicians performing
A grey base punctuated by purple, green and gold ornaments and a stylized Black silhouette in profile.
A crowd of onlookers in front of a float with a theater marquee and staircase where actors perform musical .
A corner lot paved for parking holds 2 two-story white marbled conical forms with a group of people seated on the grass below.
Group M, one of the winning teams, designed a float that creates different spaces for different activities at several stops along the parade route: “a raised platform for sharing stories and encouraging activism, a podium for speeches and leadership, a stage to dance and sit around as a community,” according to the group. The group selected the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign as a partner organization. The student members were: Taylor Beck, Sok In Ho, Andy Hu, and Xiang Li.
The Beautiful Color of Blackness, a winning entry designed by Group N, “is inspired by the vivid and radiant presence found in West Philadelphia,” according to the group. “Using the painted murals of West Philadelphia as source material, the proposed project literally reflects the skin of the neighborhood.” It is envisioned, after the parade, as a permanent installation in Malcolm X Park. The group selected the Philadelphia Coalition for Real Justice as a partner. Students: Lachelle Weathers, Joseph Depre, Mo Zihua, and Jingxiao Zhou. 
Let’s Play Charades, which earned an honorable mention, was envisioned as a partnership with Youth United for Change. “With biodegradable materials, parts of the float can be disassembled after use and organized on site to provide the building ground for a future garden; one who’s new birth and memory is a joyful affirmation of social change to come,” the group wrote. Students: Jesse Allen, Chunyu Ma, Kyle Troyer, Jingwen Wu. 
Outlaw, an honorable mention, “challenges the general architectural practice by deconstructing the oppressive design order and promoting collective and plural design practice,” Group C wrote. “Designed to perform at the Juneteenth Parade in West Philadelphia, the Outlaw float suggests a series of spaces and activities for the youth in the community to experience, play, learn, and communicate in the neighborhood.” Partner organization: Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project. Students: Yuexin Ma, Monte Reed, Xinru Tan, João de Paula Freitas.
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Each spring, first-year graduate architecture students are introduced to the themes of the ARCH 502 design studio through the Schenk-Woodman Competition. The studio always focuses on a timely spatial challenge in Philadelphia, says Associate Professor of Architecture Annette Fierro, who coordinates the various sections. This year, the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, focused attention on West Philadelphia’s 52nd Street Corridor. The corridor has long been the commercial and cultural heart of Black life in the area, and it was the scene, last June, of protests, looting, and violent reprisals by police. For the studio, students will focus on the 52nd Street SEPTA El station on the Market-Frankford line. And for a theme, they’ll focus on the phenomenon of the carnival. 

“An instrument of temporary liberation, the carnival offers a rich conceptual testing ground for the deep questioning and radical refusal of the status quo, a rehearsal of utopia,” reads the competition prompt, written by Eduardo Rega Calvo, one of the studio lecturers. 

Sixteen teams of students spent the last week and a half in January designing carnival floats for a 52nd Street celebration of Juneteenth, the holiday celebrating the emancipation of American slaves on June 19, 1865. Each team designed a float, created both a manual of assembly and a manual of use, and selected a site for the float to be permanently installed after the celebration. They were instructed to design the floats in partnership with, or on behalf of, one of several local neighborhood organizations, though because of the tight time constraints of the competition, they didn’t actually communicate with the groups. Entries were judged by Kordae Henry (MArch, MLA ‘15), a filmmaker, artist, and visual studies faculty member at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles, and Felicia Harris-Williams, an activist and member of the Philadelphia Juneteenth Parade & Festival Committee. As announced last week, the two winning teams received $9,000 each, and honorable mentions received $1,000 each. 

For the remainder of the studio, Fierro’s students will focus on developing a market for the 52nd Street El station, incorporating the carnival theme. The Schenk-Woodman Competition was a chance for students to dive into the themes immediately, she says. 

“[The market] has always had a component of social condenser, but it’s also a celebration stage, if you think about the way Reading Terminal functions, or the Italian market or any kind of classic marketplace around the world,” Fierro says. “There’s a different  function than just shopping. So it’s a way of getting the students to really understand the community, because there’s a kind of transparency with what is bought and sold and what the community is, how the community interacts with itself.”

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