Malpassé, Marseille is a district that was put in
place by l’Etat Français for Algerian immigrants in
the 1960’s. Originally on the periphery of the city,
the neighborhood sheltered a space of
community for its inhabitants.
However, at the moment people of Marseille presume
Malpassé to be like many other public housing
complexe: dangerous and threatening.
Currently, this area is planned to be demolished,
dispersing the people of the area.

Here, I envisioned the exterior as the interior (or the inverse),
the city and public as a space of exposure.
Considering this area as once a space of protection or relief
for immigrants from unstable lands, now for its
inhabitants who risk being displaced(and due to the current
tension of the nation...) the sense of comfort is waning.

Inspired by fabric foam boards that coat the walls in many
athletic/sports gymnasiums meant to protect an individual from
shock, DreamCatcher is a façade that offers protection. The name
is associated with religious symbols or icons- a site where one
invests belief in exchange for a sense security. Specifically, it
borrows its name from the handmade nets used in Native American cultures-
a minority group- believed to capture nightmares. Here I play with
act of capturing fears as well as an association with culturally and
sacredly invested acts of craft.

Using geometric symbols and bright colors, this work references the
hope and progress intended institutional visuals of the 1960’s: architecture,
children’s playground, public school interiors and designs, etc, as well as
the designs and visuals of churches that I (being an American) grew up
frequenting. The relationship between design of the 1960's and
institutional intentions of the same era is a major influence
in my ongoing research concerning what it means to be person
in a greater structural project known as society. 

DREAM CATCHER