Jesse Cermak

Forty percent of New York City's homeless youth identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or questioning. Much of this population consists of active artists, designers, and creators within the community. Sonder and Bazaar will serve as an LGBTQ+ hub, market, and housing environment. It will give these individuals a space to express themselves in a safe environment and the opportunity to make a living through their craft. Programs within the space allow employment through permanent shops as well as spaces for makers to sell their goods in a constantly changing open bazaar. The remaining five floors of the space will provide affordable micro-housing units to homeless LGBTQ+ youth. This space will become its own entity addressing social, political, and environmental issues as well as issues of inequality. It is a place of refuge and a space that promotes the idea of Sonder, the belief that every person you pass by has a story as incredible and unique as your own. It is its own city hub, one that fosters the creativity, beauty, and strength of a community that has been affected by the inequalities that plague our social climate. It creates a wabi-sabi approach to design, aesthetics, and community.  See more on issuu .