006: VACANT CITY

Syracuse, New York

Title: Vacant City
Project Type: Public
Site: Syracuse, New York
Team: Adri Virag
Instructor: Taiwei Wang
Year: 2021

This project, situated in downtown Syracuse, investigates the unique qualities of urban voids within the city. Recognizing the prevalent sense of emptiness and underutilization in the downtown area, the design proposes a space that thoughtfully accommodates both activity and inactivity -- embracing cycles of use and disuse as integral to its identity.

The building engages directly with Columbus Circle, a significant node within Syracuse’s urban fabric, serving simultaneously as a point of circulation and a place of pause. It responds to the dynamics of the site by offering spaces that support the daily rhythms of residents, workers, and passersby. Approaching from various directions, visitors encounter a series of concrete walls calibrated to offer varying degrees of transparency and enclosure. These walls guide movement, frame views, and create thresholds between public and private realms. Natural light plays a critical role in shaping the atmosphere of the interior. Over the course of the day, light filters through carefully considered openings, animating the textured concrete surfaces and marking the passage of time. A perpendicular wall frames a private garden, offering a moment of retreat within the urban context—a quiet counterpoint to the city’s surrounding movement.

Yicheng / Alan Wang

EST New York

Email: alanwangwyc@gmail.com