Inside/Out investigates urban regeneration at the scale of the interior.  The project, which is located in one of Houston’s historically African American neighborhoods - the Greater Fifth Ward, transforms an old shotgun storehouse into a small library and e-resource community center for young adults placing out of the foster care system.
Through an Interior Architecture (INAR) studio co-taught by Jason Logan and Josh Robbins at the University of Houston, students were asked to develop a structure that would simultaneously stabilize the existing building and provide a new spatial environment that could accommodate book storage.  Conceptually similar to a medical stent, which supports a vein from the inside, the structure opens up a linear space for a variety of activities and activates a side yard for flexible programming formats.  The project reestablishes a connection to the street through a new front porch, and a much needed community garden frames the side-yard and deck.  The studio project was part of a larger community development research effort conducted by the University of Houston’s Community Design Resource Center (CDRC), directed by Associate Professor Susan Rogers.
The structure will have two lives: initially as part of an exhibition at the University of Houston, and finally as an integral component in the regeneration of the Fifth Ward in Houston.

About the presenters:

Jason Logan is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Houston College of Architecture, where he teaches undergraduate Architecture and Interior Architecture design studios.  Jason is also a co-founder and principal of Logan and Johnson Architecture LLC (LOJO).  Jason received a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Houston.