VIRTUAL Barcelona

Abstract

There are two small townships named Brooklyn and Venice in the State of Illinois, located just in front of Saint Louis Missouri across the Mississippi River. They share a same background of economic decline related to all what happened to adjacent East Saint Louis region in the past 60 years. These communities consist of high unemployment and declining population, all resulting in a decrease of tax base, businesses, job opportunities, and school enrollment. The lack of healthy recreation, academics and social justice for the youth, only adds to potential negative behaviors and violence. What was once a diverse community is now a concentration of African American residents feeling apart and forgotten. They seem to be waiting for better times to come. Both townships front significant challenges but represent important history for Illinois and have the potential to reap benefits with bold investments given their close proximity to St. Louis Metro-East area and the significant promise of their residents. The present work shows several projects created in the Urban Design Studio, as part of the Bachelor of Science in Architecture at Southern Illinois University on the fall of 2021. They are proposals addressed to recuperate the life and dignity of these two riverside towns. There’s no doubt that Illinois urgently needs decentralized trends that bring steady economic opportunities everywhere else out of Chicago area, and this, besides the punctual recovering of these two disheartened towns, could be a good restarting point.