Yesterday was an action packed day with Catwalk for Kids, shopping at Halcyon's rummage sale, and drinks with a good friend at The Belvidere at Broad, my friend and I ventured over to The Vacancy Project at the abandoned Central National Bank. "The project hopes to creatively address and affect issues of building vacancy in Richmond by observing the history of the Central National Bank and its current state of decay and disuse. Lighting design in the space is compo...sed with respect to the building's architectural features, history, and deterioration. The project's sound design is composed of natural audio recorded at the Bank in 2011, and of local popular music recorded in Richmond in 1929. "
The project reminded me of wandering around an empty former bank in Philadelphia as part of my senior project. I can't spend time in old buildings without thinking about how they could be used today- clearly an objective of the project. There were slightly creepy aspects of the installation with the darkness and music, but overall the project presented an opportunity of resurrection for an incredible old building in an area of town that has been neglected but is central to the city's revitalization. The question is how can we do that responsibly.
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