Cory Henry, affiliate faculty member in the Division of Architecture and principal of Atelier Cory Henry in Los Angeles, was recently featured in Architect Magazine. The magazine’s October issue, “Architectures of Joy, Abundance, and Collectivity,” was designed and coedited by Dark Matter U, a democratic collective that advocates for anti-racist design education and practice.
This edition of Architect Magazine highlighted works that are redefining the Architecture discipline and advocating for design justice, including an adaptive reuse project by Atelier Cory Henry. The project, Mutual Aid Liberation Center, is an expansion of the 9 Gammon Building located at the site of the 1906 Brownsville Race Massacre in Atlanta.
The structure originally served as a community center for Brownsville and the surrounding Atlanta neighborhoods. However, in the 1980s, the building began to change as the region was negatively impacted by deepening poverty, violence and public health crises.
Last year, Atelier Cory Henry was invited to revitalize the 9 Gammon Building as part of the Brownsville Futures Project. Led by non-profit organizations Project South and the Hunger Coalition of Atlanta, the project aims to promote positive change through the development of a community-based, movement-building campus.
As explained by Emery Wright, Executive Director of Project South, “Gentrification is a national problem that displaces families and drives an unnecessary housing crisis. Left unchecked, it compounds and complicates existing issues of poverty and racism. Project South and the Hunger Coalition of Atlanta launched the Mutual Aid Liberation Center to intervene in the effects of gentrification in our neighborhood of Brownsville in Atlanta, GA.”
Henry’s firm came up with innovative design solutions that will enhance community connection and support the work of local social justice leaders and organizations. The new 4.5-acre space will include micro-housing, a park, a health trail and an activity hill that will be available to all community members.
Wright recognized the importance of Atelier Cory Henry’s involvement in this project, “Working with Atelier Cory Henry has allowed us to manifest a concept design that organically reflects community voice, vision and knowledge in a process that will organize a radically different Brownsville Future. This design will intervene in the erasure of historical memory and create a social movement building hub for our neighborhood, Southern region, and larger global community.”
Learn more about the project and read Henry’s full article at https://link.ou.edu/3MJVIuY. Stay up to date with Atelier Cory Henry on Instagram (@ateliercoryhenry), X (@atelierCHenry) or by visiting firm’s website at https://a-ch.com/.
Featured Image: A rendering of the site plan for the Mutual Aid Liberation Center by Atelier Cory Henry.