PROJECTS
Carlos Morales-Amates - Hollow
Fatimah Almutawa - Surface Exchange
Post Office Box
This studio foregrounded architectural approaches toward establishing resilient community resources that looks to recent histories, current situations, and future possibilities. We paid close attention to material ecologies, embodied and operational energy implicated through the act of making and the ongoing, but uncertain occupation of spaces constructed through those acts. Additionally, we became familiar with passive systems that address a broad array of challenges brought on by the increased frequency of extreme weather events and shifting weather patterns while elevating the expression of the architecture as a collective community value.
We took advantage of the material and architectural resources of the the U.S. Postal Services (USPS) as an abundant and broadly dispersed yet underutilized urban and rural fixture. After reaching a peak of around 213 billion units in 2006, USPS has experienced a year-on-year decline in mail volume every year since. In 2023, the volume of mail delivered by the USPS dropped to just 116 billion units. This has resulted in a shift toward centralization and a constriction of the broad network of postal branches, leaving behind a significant inventory of buildings and outposts. Our studio used the U.S. Post Office Building in Columbus, Indian by Roche Dinkeloo as a model to adapt to a more resilient community asset along side a reduced USPS operation.
Our aim was not be to redesign the postal service, but to re-conceptualize the role that a public institution can play in supporting a community.