Karen Rojas Meza
In an urban area like Westwood, Denver, marginalized communities may lack the resources to receive and exchange information that can help them thrive. The Bookshelf Project, in a neighborhood like Westwood, aims to provide the community with information about recycling or compost, after school programs for children, or resources for undocumented immigrants. Ultimately, the Bookshelf is for members of the community to communicate with one another as it welcomes community leaders to distribute information through it. The Bookshelf may also act as an archive for leaders, artists, or community organizations to share their work. The Bookshelf can evolve and adapt to raise awareness to the different issues that a marginalized community may face. An extension of this project is the Carcacha, which utilizes a broken down car and is redesigned to be only the front half of a car holding an archive of information inside. The Carcacha utilizes the car as a symbol for a greater issue: the collection of trash in our neighborhood. The Carcacha will contain information that is focused on helping the community learn how to recycle and compost properly but will also act as an archive for community leaders, artists, and organizations to share their work. The Bookshelf Project can be introduced to other neighborhoods and be designed to offer specific resources.
Picture 1/2: The picture on the left shows the dynamic designs of the Bookshelf, where community information can be found. The sketches on the right show how the interior of the Carcacha can be uniquely designed to archive information, books, or art. The exterior of the project is another part of the project that the community can design together.
*Carcacha: roughly translates to a junk car