Janette Kim with Hannah Leathers and Bennett Grisley

Land is more than mere property; its value greatly influences its utilization, consequently becoming a symbol of power. How would land utilization shift if the tenets of ownership were altered? Janette Kim delves into this question by examining Esther's Orbit Room in Oakland, California, suggesting that varied forms of ownership can engage a broader range of stakeholders, enhancing land resilience.

 

In Oakland, a prominent hub for West Coast blues, the East Bay real estate investment cooperative, EB PREC, acquired the Orbit Room. Their mission was to assist low-income inhabitants and merchants and to advocate for communities of color who had been sidelined from housing loan benefits. To shield the land from speculative market forces, the cooperative has set a ceiling on shareholder gains. Furthermore, it knits together labor, culture, and various activities to forge a tight-knit community.

 

Through a meticulous study of reports, oral accounts, and advisory documents on design, the artist employs color layering techniques to unravel the multifaceted and sometimes conflicting economic, societal, and architectural narratives surrounding property ownership. The work underscores the potential for new landowners to innovate, steering the rejuvenation and reciprocal dynamics of land utilization.

 

- Janette Kim is an architectural designer, researcher, and educator based in the San Francisco Bay area. Kim’s practice operates in three modes: as principal of the design firm All of the Above, as co-director of the research laboratory Urban Works Agency at the California College of the Arts, and as an independent scholar and author. Across these roles, she promotes equitable design protocols and creates multimedia decision-making tools to help translate between architecture and its stakeholders. In her own words, Kim aims to “empower communities to realize a more equitable redistribution of land, resources, and risk.”