Faculty of Design

Environmental Design - Interior Design Specialization

Sharany Indrakumar

Youth Cultural Nexus

THESIS STATEMENT:This thesis will investigate the representation and incorporation of youth cultural groups in a dense, urban community. This will help me to understand how the exposure and moments of cultural exchange between one culture to another, can teach and create a positive influence for both present and future youth generations. It is important because it will foster inclusion, social awareness, as well as encourage an environment that fills embraces and educates individuals about their community's diverse cultures. I hope it will be beneficial to the future where these shared moments of exchange will precent cultural segregation and social disconnection - overall aiming to create a well connected community. PROBLEM:Our cities are rapidly growing to adapt to our needs. We see more residential units being built, more schools being implemented. However, with these increases in buildings they seem to lack a sense of purpose - a sense of belonging. More importantly, our identities and our cultural roots are being forgotten as they are not reflected in the architecture around us. So how can we create these connections. Not just to ourselves, but to our culture, people, and surrounding environment? But more importantly, how can the younger generation make these connections as they are the key to connections to our culture as we want to be able to prolong and carry out our cultural experiences and roots into the future.SOLUTION:Culture and connection is not mentioned as much as we would like in the education system. Educational spaces today play a significant role in fostering children’s well being and accompanying their learning process. The optimal solution for this problem is to integrate a cultural hub - in this case, a cultural nexus for the community, providing youth with opportunities to learn, share and connect to their culture and environment. In order to execute my thesis proposal, I decided to choose a well known dense, multicultural city. Regent Park is one of Toronto's most diverse and oldest cities, as it is home to over 70 languages with nearly half of the population being families with young children. However, with these changing demographics came social issues between residents. Cultural conflicts became more common, and families began to struggle financially as there were a lack of jobs. Although there is an in going revitalization plan for the city, it lacks recreational facilities for the youth. This is where my project comes in.