“One of the most meaningful courses I took during my time at the U was a community-driven design project focused onrevitalizing Japantown in Salt Lake City. The goal was to create a space that preserved and celebrated the history of the Japanese American community while addressing their present-day needs. Our team worked directly with community members and architectural professionals to develop a meaningful design, gaining valuable insights into the role of architects in cultural preservation and community advocacy.

This project changed how I view the role of architects in shaping historical and cultural places, and it influenced my career goals. We as architects have a responsibility to the communities that are underserved by their environment, and it made me realize how much impact we have in our designs.

We first looked into how and why there came to be a Japanese population in Utah, which traced back to when Japanese migrants came to the U.S. for a better life, but were then detained in internment camps. As political turmoil eased, the Japanese population in Delta, Utah that were in the internment camps migrated and settled into Japantown street, which became their community. The initial analysis also included an interview session with the Japanese community members, which gave me and my team members insight into the community’s needs and wants. In terms of the shape of the building, we started off by folding origami to find a form that would translate into a building, which is why it has a unique angular shape. We also decided on the theme of “light” for the building and named it “Hikari Atrium” because Hikari means light in Japanese and we want the purpose of the building to shed light on Japanese history. The atrium on the inside of the building has strategically placed staircases that form the “hikari” character when you look down into the atrium from the top floor. The final product was, in my opinion, a very well-developed museum for Japanese American history.

Our experience working with the community was always pleasant and emotionally charged. The injustice they’ve faced from the erasure of their community by the Utah government fueled us to do well in designing for them. The community members were very enthusiastic about what we were doing and gave good feedback on our designs. I think the most important skill for an architect is to communicate their work visually and verbally to non-architects. Our project is a realization of the Japanese community’s wants and needs that gives them hope for what could be. It contributes to the conversation of redeveloping Japantown and gives them hope for reclamation of their community space in the future.

Some advice I would give to future architecture students: Listen to the community and try your best to integrate their wants and needs into your design. We tend to get stuck in the nitty-gritty details, so always take a step back during the design process so as to not forget to see the bigger picture.”

—Viviane Nguyen, Class of 2025, B.S. in Architectural Studies, College of Architecture + Planning, from Orange County, CA

• Paulina Sylvester assistant director of communications, School of Architecture + Planning
  p.sylvester@utah.edu