Seniors and juniors of WHSAD visited the construction site of El Bario’s ArtSpace at PS 109 in Harlem. They met with the architect from Hamilton Houston Lownie who designed the project, which is focused upon the adaptive reuse of the PS 109 building. PS 109, originally designed by Charles Snyder in 1898, no longer serves its original purpose as a school. The building, which has a Gothic Revival-style structure, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Being deemed an important historical structure, it was decided that it was better to change the function of PS 109 rather than simply tear it down. This is the essence of adaptive reuse. When a structure no longer serves its original purpose, but is deemed too important to destroy, another use must be found and its architecture must be adapted to serve this new purpose. In this case, the onetime school will now provide 90 affordable loft units, a gallery space, community storefronts, and common use space for the residents and the neighborhood.
