snips from a thesis!
fall ‘17 - spring ‘18
In this book is a documentation of a process to challenge a traditional architectural design process through an open-ended exploration of architecture’s hidden spatial narratives. From the onset, the aim of the project was to develop a methodology to approach people from a characteristically distinctive background than a designer. Through the process of investigating the value of repeated interaction with spaces, it was quickly revealed that in order to truly experience a place, one must have consistent routine interactions in the place.
Thus, Wilkinsburg, a place filled with a rich and tumultuous history, physical and social barriers, and optimistic leaders and changemakers, became the case study of this thesis to explore an alternative mode of practice. One that values an emotional attachment to place more than any economic price tag. An architectural design process that fundamentally questions the traditional role of the architect. A process by which people are empowered to become agents of change in their own right.
Design should be used to start conversations; successful design does not set out to complete the conversation. They imply the production of space rather than the creation of space, and are not the solution, but the proposition.
