Mobile Trauma Unit
Mobile Healing Space Conversion
Summer 2021
Urbahn Architects Design Build
Brownsville Think Tank Matters
For this, I facilitated a re-design of the van interior as part of pro bono work done in collaboration with Urbahn Architects, a full-service planning and design firm based in New York City. Mobile Trauma Units (MTUs) are a network of providers overseen by the the Office to Prevent Gun Violence (OPGV) in New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. The MTUs were created to help local partners respond quickly and effectively to incidents of violence in their communities. The Brownsville Think Tank Matters MTU needed support in reshaping how they might engage with communities, while fostering a healing space within the units themselves, and altering their exterior messaging of “Don’t Shoot”. With a small budget of $2000, Urbahn donated design time and construction labor of their team of 12 employees. The interior work involved demolition/removal of an under-utilized bathroom and kitchenette to make room for counseling and recovery services.
These mobile units respond and circulate back to sites similar to the proposed project where hotspots/violent incidents take place. The Beyond Memorial is a pathway to address the question “what happens when these mobile trauma units are not there?”.
Urbahn Team!
Bridgette Van Sloun ∙ Christopher Young ∙ Ryan Bieber ∙ Kalla Barranco ∙ Oni Lloyd ∙ Jonathan Ruiz ∙ Ahmad Khan ∙ Ricardo Amaya ∙ Emma Weiss ∙ Jenya Itskovich ∙ Rafael Stein ∙ Nat Barranco