Community Brought Together

Community Brought Together Ethan Conkin, Jacob Abbott, Tyemirlan Murat Shahnaz Aly Architectural Science A community is a small or large social unit (a group of living things) that has something in common, such as norms, religion, values, or identity. Communities often share a sense of place that is situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighborhood) or in virtual space through communication platforms. Are we hiding behind selfies and negative social media behavior instead of promoting human interaction and kindness? “For the past decade community has been slowly disappearing. Are we too busy for community, trying to earn and spending our time on electronic devices? In San Jose, California, our neighborhood coffee shops and independent bookstores have been replaced by franchises and online merchants. Mission City Coffee Roasting, a meeting place for students, artists, and writers and site for weekend folk concerts, is gone now, replaced by another Starbucks, and there is only one independent bookstore left in San Jose. Have we become too busy for community? With our days filled with electronic gadgets, longer work hours and commutes, few of us know our neighbors, which can be unhealthy and unsafe.” - Diane Dreher Ph.D. It’s time to put down the cell phone, scrolling through our social media accounts and get to know the community around us. Through the built environment, communities can come together face to face and learn about each other. Our research focused on the interactions of communities in environments such as community centers and religious gathering spaces. The diverse population of Bowling Green, Kentucky gave us the opportunity to apply our findings about community interaction. Our designs took gathering spaces and transformed them into environments suitable for today’s community; making the use of technology beneficial instead of destructive