During my junior year (spring semester) studio, as a group project, my partner and I had to develop and design a superblock within a transect in Manhattan NYC between 15th and 25th street. Our project was based around health and well being of veterans in NYC. Veterans are amongst the most physically and mentally ill group in the country along with also accounting for most of the homeless population. We decided to design a system coupled with the Veteran Affairs hospital that could house and aid veterans during their treatment. In the process we also wanted to develop a sense of community amongst veterans that share a common plight while also integrating them back into general society. We split the project into two buildings on different sites that would be related programmatically. In the portion I designed individually, the site is on the block that neighbors the Veteran Affairs hospital in Manhattan. On the site currently there is a public park and a gym that I decided to keep and reconfigure to incorporate housing for veterans that get treatment at the hospital next door. The public park and gym allows for the opportunity of interaction between the veterans and general public that would be using the same site for different reasons. 

Treatment was the ultimate goal behind the entire system and design for my partner and I. We wanted to base every design decision from the concept of treatment. Health, in a number of ways, has a direct correlation with nature. The idea was that the park would work congruently with any other form of treatment the veterans are receiving, as a natural remedy it would be an aid in the process.