Co-creation: A study of intimacy and control

Drawing from ongoing revitalization initiatives in Richmond, Virginia, this adaptive reuse project creates a structured dialogue between public and private expression to create a more immersive gallery experience for viewer and practitioner. The gallery experience is twofold; traditional object-based display and nontraditional process-based display. Preservation of the historic fabric of the existing Handcraft building at 1501 Roseneath is integrated with the transformative potential of introducing voyeuristic opportunities in creating a community arts center. Notions of voyeurism will center around ideas of visual connection and physical separation. This project questions if tactics of voyeurism, which inherently create physical barriers, can facilitate interaction and encourage co-creation in a creative setting. Structured moments of intimacy and control are accomplished through presented and found views of movement, object, and process. These moments of intimacy and control create a conceptual reciprocity which guides the design of this project. Ultimately, the redesign creates a dialogue between the process of making and the final product/object by facilitating interaction between the viewer and practitioner through different points of the creative process. The project moves away from exploiting the site’s formal, historical, and contextual components and encourages the audience member to engage with the maker through a corporeal, experiential encounter. The environment becomes a catalyst for cross-disciplinary creativity on an individual, group, and community level. The development of spaces that engage the creative mind and foster collaborative growth will serve the Richmond arts community and can act as an icon for successful urban transformation