Through this study of downtown St. Louis, the phenomena I focused on was crime. It is the dichotomy between the two areas of Washington Ave and MLK that initially captured my interest. Washington Ave is treated as a gentrified reclamation -- the area is being cleaned up, yuppified, and historically registered. Not even three blocks to the north however, exists the exact opposite. The corner of MLK and 14th street is ranked nationally as the 9th worst street corner in the nation. Where Washington Ave is dense, populated and built, MLK is vague, empty, informal and crime riddled. These two separate areas are close in proximity but two very different worlds.

The mapping image is a section cut through Washington and MLK avenues respectively. Inset within the street are a series of images -- read vertically, the top being an image of the location, the middle an image of the event and the bottom an image of the victim/user. Extending from the images are newspaper titles. These titles, satirical in nature and arranged chronologically according to crime data, express the dichotomy of the events and/or crimes that occurred. When compared, one is able to see that for every vicious crime that occurred on MLK, a social event occurred on Washington Avenue in complete isolation, whether intentional or unintentional, from one another.

The areas social discords exposed through the mapping, was a driving force for this project. The landscape of the site grows both into and from the built structure. Along the entrance walkway, the ground grades with the sidewalk eventually enveloping a large part of the underground structure. On the north area of the site, where the exterior theater extends the interior space, the landscape laminates away from the walkway forming the seating area of the exterior theater then completes the walkway to the street. Designing a space that provides for clear sightlines and that utilities both interior and exterior spaces can begin to combat the ever-present crime.