To counter the dispossession and violence a community controlled land ownership model can work to reclaim that power. This project focuses on land ownership in the Morrisania and Bronx Area, the Morrisania Community Land trust seeks to carve out spaces in the city for existing community organizations by owning and occupying land in new ways. This new method of land ownership is designed to spark a conversation about community control and spatialize what it means for land to be in the power of the people. We envision going beyond the traditional model of community land trusts to create an understanding of land ownership that recenters community ownership of both public and private land. To create equitable public spaces that are inviting and safe for all ages that allow youth to become an active voice in community governance.

Morrosania Community Land Trust begins by engaging with the city through a series of pop-up installations. The pop-ups are designed to actively engage and represent all voices, especially teens in the process of land reclamation community controlled land in Morrisania and spatialize what it means for land to be in the power of the people.

Mode 1: SMALL SITES The first mode of this pop up is about amplifying and materializing community voices. Facilitated by existing community orgs this pop up will allow residents to take back government owned land by physically marking/staking the land. Thus creating a temporary monument to those members of the community and serving the start of land reclamation and visual markers throughout the city with which everyone can engage with how they please.

Mode 2: LARGE SITES The second mode of this pop up is about reactivating spaces for community organization work. This mode of the pop up will also maintain the same visual language of "staking" used in the two previous mode while creating a more semi permanent installation that can be used by community organizations to mobilize and/or facilitate gatherings. We envision one articulation of this activation as a constructed stage and digital bulletin board to publicly advertise on going works within the community.

Contributors: Barbara Nasila