Elijah Sykes
2025
This, That, and the Third is a speculative design investigation into the failures and futures of social housing through the lens of third spaces—communal, culturally embedded environments such as barbershops, nail salons, and churches. Situated at the Lewis and Clark Tower in Moline Acres, a once-promising but now-abandoned public housing development outside St. Louis, the project reimagines the unbuilt second tower as a counter-architecture rooted in community care rather than institutional neglect.
Where the existing tower stands as a symbol of disinvestment and failed planning, the proposed second tower becomes a framework for healing, stability, and Black cultural continuity. By centering third spaces as essential social infrastructure, the project explores how these environments cultivate identity, foster resilience, and sustain community through everyday acts of gathering, care, and cultural exchange. Drawing from the histories of failed housing developments such as Pruitt-Igoe and Cabrini-Green, this thesis critiques conventional models of social housing that prioritize shelter alone. Instead, it proposes an architectural framework that positions community, connection, and culture as fundamental components of housing, envisioning a future where architecture not only provides refuge but actively supports collective well-being and belonging.