Products Of Culture

Commercial
Long Island City

Instead of filling our tiny closets at home, people could borrow from a neighborhood bank of used goods. Like an index fund, pooling our resources lowers the cost of individual items, so you can own thousands more products than you’d otherwise afford. And unlike a big box store, where everything is pristinely packaged, the items in this bank are open to the public for onsite uses all the time. There are artists using the paint supplies, children playing with sports gear, and executives learning how to tile a bathroom.

What would a communal closet of used goods and cultural activities look like? It should be a venue for street life, bringing pedestrians through busy galleries like a climbing sidewalk. Walls are formed with metal cubbies of varying sizes, between which light slips into the building. The cubbies are transparent when facing the courtyard, displaying their products to visitors who spiral up the outdoor stairs. Undulating terraces at the three corners of the building are designed with layered views across the courtyard, where many activities can occur simultaneously.