HOOPS X BORDERS: Imagining a More Connected World

This series envisions architecture and sport as two complementary disciplines that can be leveraged to support efforts of bringing different groups of people together in one shared, physical location. The goal is to connect “others” through shared interest, and thereby develop the foundation for which further relations – and cooperation - may be pursued.

Concentrating on basketball and identifying geopolitical borders as important, symbolic manifestations of separation, this artistic exploration strives to understand what architectural strategies can be deployed in constructing spaces geared explicitly towards bridging group divisions.

It experiments with challenging group stereotypes via an architecture of curiosity and uncertainty, destandardizing basketball courts so that each court becomes an opportunity to rethink ones’ understanding of the game, retool the rules to fit with the misaligned design, and perhaps realize commonalities with the “others” playing the same sport on the unique court. It explores vibrancy and primary geometries as a means of developing a playful, inclusive, and more universal language. It dreams of a built environment designed to connect, rather than divide. Ultimately, this collection of drawings illustrates the fantastic possibilities that integrating architecture and sport possess in their power to ameliorate humanity’s myriad divisions that still plague our ability to collectively pursue the common good.