Zihan Sun

MARGIN: Finding Coexistence within the Marginalized Habitats of Cities

Marginal spaces can be found throughout cities, yet they are often ignored and overlooked. Despite this, these areas play a crucial role in urban environments due to their unexpected vitality. The overlapping uses of dominant and marginal actors, including humans and non-human species such as pedestrians, pigeons, and plants, create spatial conflicts within these spaces. How can the existing conditions of marginal spaces be subtly reworked to mediate these tensions without erasing marginality?

This thesis investigates three sites in Providence across different scales, using consistent observation and documentation to understand their marginality.  Different actors are used as lenses to analyze and interpret these spaces. Through light design interventions inspired by existing site elements, this work proposes a framework that explores possibilities for coexistence within these overlooked spaces.