FASHION ROW, HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, 2017:
This project proposal occurred as a result of two primary factors. First, as design consultants working with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, we helped redesign a handful of storefront facades along NE 1st Street in Fashion Row. This relatively small project left a rather large impression on us and triggered our collective imagination to ponder what the neighborhood could become over time. Second, without a continuing commission to work from, we took an unorthodox approach and began planning a strategy for neighborhood revitalization. This proactive approach let us be free in our imaginative strategy and during the process we tried seeing the project through the eyes of potential shoppers, artists, planners, elected officials, store owners, developers and the CRA. Time was an important aspect of the plan. We designed short-term projects, and developed long term strategies. Since we had no client, our scope wasn’t limited. We designed public spaces – both small and large, as well as private buildings with uses previously absent.
This plan is comprehensive. It suggests how interested investors and government agencies could build a social culture, focused on art and design. It demonstrates how, through strategic, low-cost, investments, this culture might surface, and what, through long-term dedication and commitment, the neighborhood could eventually become. Our strategy for Fashion Row is born in small, conservative, incremental growth. It uses and enhances the warehouse aesthetic, incrementally, and surgically intervening in the urban morphology at key locations. This approach is organic and doesn’t rely on generic suburban treatments. Our plan very intentionally intervenes only when the outcome enhances the strength of the existing.
Project Team: Steven Fett, Yihan Liu, Aky Fernandez, Bruna Bacchi. Design Consultant: Jaime Correa