Outdoor Space in SF’s Filipino Cultural District Designed for Wellness, Economic Opportunity and Social Distancing
Kultivate Labs and CAMO Studio open ‘Kapwa Gardens’
pop-up in SOMA Pilipinas
Kapwa Gardens will be the first outdoor community space in San Francisco designed for physical distancing since the Coronavirus pandemic began in March, 2020..
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - August 20, 2020 - Non-profit & incubator Kultivate Labs, illustrator & art director Andre Sibayan, and landscape practice CAMO Design Studio, are transforming a city-owned parking lot in SOMA Pilipinas into Kapwa Gardens — an upcoming art and wellness pop-up designed as a space for healing and economic opportunity for the Filipino American community in the midst of COVID-19. Construction is set to start this Fall.
By using social distancing as a foundation of design, Kapwa Gardens is intended to be a safe, restorative space from which the Filipino community can also economically benefit in light of COVID-19. With kapwa — a Filipino concept of a shared identity and interconnectedness — at the heart of the project, the creators designed the pop-up to include murals by local Filipino/a/x artists, music, theater, citrus fruit trees for the public to enjoy, space for food vendors and other micro enterprises and a layout that seamlessly enables social distancing. Keeping in mind that COVID-19 has made performing in enclosed spaces prohibitive, the team is also designing a small, outdoor performance stage for Bindlestiff Studios, the only Filipino American black box theater in the country.
“As we begin to emerge from Shelter In Place, we need to start looking at new ways to jump start economic activity in a safe manner,” says Desi Danganan, Kultivate Labs’ Executive Director. “Kapwa Gardens will be one of the few public gathering spaces designed with social distancing in mind. We’ve made room for 2-3 vendors to be located in Kapwa Gardens that will make it a new destination for those seeking Filipino food, art, and activities for a COVID-19 world. Over time, Kapwa Gardens will help solidify Mission St as the first commercial corridor for SOMA Pilipinas.”
This empty lot on Mission St will be transformed into Kapwa Gardens.
Following the art direction of Andre Sibayan, who oversaw branding for creative night market Undiscovered SF and illustration for Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong, Kapwa Gardens’ design will have a distinct identity.
“This project needed to have it’s own identity, but also feel congruent to these other community-based projects in SOMA Pilipinas,” says Andre Sibayan. “The angular shapes of the Kapwa Gardens’ “K'' were inspired by a series of hedge mazes proposed by the architectural team. The simple shape of the “K” was also meant to provide a simplified form that could easily be fit together to create a unique pattern to be used throughout the project that also resemble traditional Philippine textile patterns.”
Behind Kultivate Labs is an award-winning team. They recently won a prestigious California Arts Council award to create an innovative mural / projection mapped art piece at Kapwa Gardens. Muralist Sami Schilf will create a mural inspired by the goddess Tala, goddess of morning and evening star in Tagalog mythology. In tandem with Schilf, artist Kristian Kabuay will develop projection mapping assets featuring the different ancestors named through community workshops that will respond to the negative space in the mural design. In May 2020, Kultivate Labs, along with O+A Studio, received an honorable mention in FastCompany’s ‘World Changing Ideas Awards’ for Republika, the first retail & event space and incubator in the nation dedicated to supporting Filipino business.
In addition to encouraging economic development and offering respite amid the pandemic, the team sees Kapwa Gardens as one solution to SOMA Pilipinas’ public space challenge.
“While San Francisco is known for its famous parks and green spaces, as landscape architects who live and work in SoMA, we are acutely aware of the dramatically disproportionate lack of public open space and urban canopy in SoMa relative to the rest of the city and region,” says Marcus Owens, co-founder of CAMO Studio. “Further exacerbating this discrepancy, District 6 also has some of the most cramped housing stock in the city, often surrounded by unsafe and unsanitary streetscape conditions. COVID-19 has made these disparities all the more urgent, and we have been happy to engage with our neighbors in designing Kapwa gardens as an accessible and safe green space.”
Kultivate Labs, the team behind successful creative night market UNDISCOVERED SF, ultimately envisions a thriving commercial district in SOMA Pilipinas that supports businesses and artists that preserve culture and community. Kapwa Gardens is an extension of this mission.
“Every cultural district has to think about how to stay relevant in a COVID-19 world and every cultural district has an empty parking lot within their borders that they can reimagine for the needs of today,” says Desi Danganan. “Kapwa Gardens can help blaze a new path for cultural districts to help address the needs of their community by creating spaces that can help address food insecurity, mental wellness, and jump start economic activity in a safe way.”
For more information or to volunteer with Kapwa Gardens, please visit: https://www.kapwagardens.com/
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About Kultivate Labs:
Kultivate Labs is a Non-profit Economic Development and Arts Organization. They create thriving commercial ecosystems by accelerating businesses that preserve culture and community. They provide space and opportunities for the arts to flourish so that commercial activities are activated and reflect the community at large. The diverse team behind Kultivate Labs itself demonstrates a considerable range of experience (Undiscovered SF night market, Balay Kreative - A Filipino arts and cultural org, with more projects to be announced in 2020.)
About Andre Sibayan:
Andre Sibayan is an illustrator and Art Director based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Working extensively with both major retail brands and boutique agencies, specializing in creating illustration and design for clients such as Target, Gap, Adidas, WalMart, Gymboree, Quiksilver, McCann Erickson, and Liquid Agency. Outside of large corporate design he has recently had the opportunity to help create branding and to market community organizations and small businesses that wouldn’t otherwise have access to design resources. Andre hopes that he can create design that doesn’t only affect the bottom line of a business, but can create positive change in small communities, and hopefully the world at large.
About CAMO Design Studio:
CAMO Studio is a South of Market-based Design Practice focused on public space and the urban environment. CAMO projects combine interests in art, health and wellness, and native ecologies. Through place-based research, publications, and design-build, the practice seeks to bridge the gap between lived histories, contemporary development, and community narratives.