Why this project matters & what it intends to be

So what possible interest can I have in the subject of refugees other than the purely esoteric? I have never been expelled from my homeland, never felt any systematic persecution for either my political or religious beliefs at the hands of a government, and as for my "homeland" it's Ann Arbor, Michigan and I can return whenever I want. As for ethnicity, I am the majority, I am white, male, christian, protestant and middle class.

But still, I feel a degree of kinship with these individuals, and I believe that many Americans of my age and background can relate to the notion of placelesness and impermanence which has become deeply embedded in our culture.

In the past decade I can claim to have lived in fourteen different addresses, in twelve different edifices, in six cities in three regions in two states:

01: 1912 Frieze, Ann Arbor Michigan 48104 [Childhood home]
02: 138 W. 11th, Room 309, Columbus OH 43210 [College]
03: 4224 Cherrywood Dr., Troy MI, 48098 [Parents moved]
04: 138 W 11th. Room 426, Columbus, OH 43210 [College]
05: 191 W. 12th, Columbus, OH 43201 [College]
06: 2188 North High Street, Apt 24, Columbus OH 43201 [College]
07: 50 W. Northwood Avenue, Apt B, Columbus OH 43201 [College]
08: 133 W. Oakland Ave, Apt C, Columbus, OH 43201 [Recent Graduate]
09: 1410 Haines Avenue, Grandview Heights, OH 43212 [Post Collegate]
10: 158 E. Third Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201 [temporary stay with friend between moves]
11: 4229 Village Ln, Toledo Ohio 43614 [move to get married]
12: 2553 Portsmouth Avenue - Upper, Toledo, OH 43613 [first married residence]
13: 7769 Stoneford Drive, Columbus, OH 43235 [Wife's new job]
14: 181 N. Vine Street, Westerville, OH 43081 [bought a home]

I spent the past decade trying to keep from developing any real ties to place, keeping mobile, refusing to plant anything but potted plants which I could move with me, trying hard to not gain possessions which were not easily moved in an afternoon. I also never bothered to join any civic organizations or do any sort of organizational work in my community, because "why bother?" after all I know that I am just going to move in a year or so.

This semi-nomadic life is remarkably common amongst my peers, and in part we as Americans have made this lifestyle not just an easy one, but a lifestyle which is a tool that copes with the necessities of the contemporary American built environment.

Fast food, off ramps, strip malls, "lifestyle communities" commuter suburbs, McMansions, corporate office parks. All these are built expressions of this "semi-nomadic" lifestyle. None of these environments challenge individuals intellectually, culturally, or in any way fosters the notion of community or place.

For me, the case for refugee resettlement is a personal catharsis, a cultural lens by which I see my own lifestyle reflected.

While I have a rather dim view of the present state of the contemporary suburban-city, I do believe in the promise of the United States as a land of opportunity. I believe in the United States as a society which allows multiculturalism to flourish. Much like the language of English, America borrows from other cultures, and brings the best traditions from the world together in one place. Our flaw is that we rarely ask each other to meet (culturally speaking) in a meaningful dialogue.

I believe that some of the most memorable places in our built environment are products of our diverse ethnic and cultural past, and reflect the spirit of the American promise.

In this project I plan to examine these areas, the notion of placemaking, and offer this as a contrast to the uniformity of the sprawlscape whcih comprises the contemporary city.

The program will be for a "Center for refugee acculturation and Outreach" which will seek to provide assistance for a small and ever-fluctuating population of refugees, providing them with immediate shelter, acculturation services (translation services, legal counseling, resettlement coordination) as well as economic opportunity. Additionally the center shall act as an "embassy" which provides cross cultural exchange and engages the newly arrived refugees with the larger community within the city. Finally the project is to provide an infusion of people, diversity, and vibrancy into a built environment which is without human scale, without individual spirit and in need of repair to the community.

By introducing a framework for development using the "C.F.R.A.O." as a catalyst, the goal is to create a new and exciting development plan for an aging neighborhood in the contemporary American city.