Natalie Haydon-Hawkins

ideaHAUS

Meet-make-preform
Gallery space
Site model
Parti model studying the idea of intersecting programs and their resultant hybridity
Early iteration of theatre, gallery, and kitchens interacting
Site looking north on Broadway Ave
West elevation
First floor plan
Second floor plan
Section through the kitchen, looking towards the theatre, and gallery on the first floor and through the seating area and kitchens on the second floor
Section of the theatre, cafe, and seating area
Gallery space
Theatre below with the second floor seating looking in
Main entry with the kitchen, theatre, and gallery in view

Uptown was historically a theater district full of life and culture.  A few decades ago it fell onto hard times when many halfway houses moved to the neighborhood and the old inhabitants migrated away from Uptown.  Uptown has also been home to people of various cultures who have brought with them their various cuisines.  Uptown has revived itself in recent years and is getting back in touch with its historic roots.  While theaters remain in the neighborhood, they serve the greater Chicago area and have little contact with Uptown itself.  Restaurants in Uptown continue to thrive and encourage people to visit the neighborhood.

The ideaHAUS seeks to create a space to provide a place to make and learn in the kitchen, a space to meet in the gallery, and a place to perform in the theatre by taking an interest in how these programs intersect and feed from each other in a way which both helps the community and embraces the history of the neighborhood. A community-based theatre serves the neighborhood itself, not just bringing people from across the city who do not interact with the community of Uptown  The restaurants in Uptown served as inspiration for the teaching kitchen as there are many restaurants in Uptown, however, there is now where to learn how to create these cuisines and encourage the diversity that Uptown already has. While Uptown is full of culture, it is lacking art which would be a wonderful addition to the already prosperous Uptown neighborhood.

An investigation of the intersecting of activities produced a hybridization of spaces which took the form of an open floor plan in which the activities are visible and thus inviting for people to engage in all aspects Uptown has to offer.  The activities are encouraged to flow together, such that the cafe seating is within the gallery space and the theater functions as extras seating when there is no performance.  The circulation spaces are wide to encourage pausing.