Jane Johnston

I arrived early in Minneapolis for a Journalism That Matters conference, “A Passion for Place,” this past June. So I headed to the Walker Art Center and discovered an inspirational exhibition, “Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes.” Some of it was quite familiar, including the requisite Gregory Crewdsons.

But I found greatest inspiration in a modest exhibit put together by Interboro, a group of architects who devised “In the Meantime, Life with Landbanking,” a multi-faceted proposal to enliven the “dead” Dutchess Mall in Dutchess County, NY. This mall is across the river from Newburgh, a little further east down route 84. I have childhood memories of going to the movies at this mall in what were its much better days. Here’s Interboro’s project description:

In the Meantime, Life with Landbanking is Interboro’s winning entry to the LA Forum for Architecture’s “Dead Malls” Competition, which asked Interboro to envision a future for a dead shopping mall of its choosing.

Interboro’s project, a reimagining of the Dutchess County Mall in Fishkill, NY was inspired by a conversation it had with the mall’s developer, who made it clear that he was landbanking the property. Interboro asked “what can be done in the meantime?” Rejecting the idea of a traditional masterplan, Interboro’s submission is a collection of small, cheap, feasible moves that come in over time, and lead to many possible futures.

Small, cheap, feasible moves that come in over time: this is almost a description of citizen journalism, another enterprise that leads to many possible futures.