Hózhó: Redefining the Boundary

Fall ‘20 | Critic: Katie Donahue

Hózhó is a Navajo for working towards a sense of balance within oneself, our planet, and in life. It is a word that is core to the structure of their community, and it communicates our focus on the restoration of balance between the neighborhood and its environment. This project focused on nine live/work units for three makers within the RiNo district of Denver. When our team started this project we observed that there was a disconnect from people and place in the urban environment. This became evident as we were exploring the history of redlining in the neighborhood that affected marginalized groups through systematic racism. We sought to deconstruct the idea of redlines as a means of oppression and walls as boundary, and reform them as inclusive spaces.

The building form begins with a boundary line from the historic redlining map that was once used as a tool to oppress and disenfranchise African Americans. We chose to make this line our own and reinterpret it in favor of the community. We selected a line from one of the two closest zones to our site, and offset it. We extruded this to create a tangible boundary or wall. We then put together a subtractive matrix in order to deconstruct it and reform the boundary as an opportunity for occupation and use. These subtractive methods were divided into three categories: occupy, pass through, and pause. These three categories hold political and cultural implications; harkening to issues surrounding occupation and territory, passing through or moving across borders, and the ability to pause or loiter unimpeded.