Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-2002

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Architecture

Major

Architecture

Major Professor

Adam Drisin

Committee Members

Jon Coddington, Andrew Thurlow

Abstract

This thesis explores how architecture can begin to react to, transform and reinvent spaces that have become marginalized as a result of infrastructure. With the intervention of a large, elevated highway comes an enormous swath of continuous space, dotted with concrete columns. These types of underutilized and marginal spaces are common and necessary products of the types of infrastructure that modern society depends on daily. This thesis seeks to investigate such spaces in terms of their architectural potential. The effects of the highway and other infrastructure, however, extend far beyond their physical manifestations. Noise and pollution aside, objects along the highway become flashes in the minds of those passing by at a high rate of speed on the interstate above. Conversely, one who is standing still experiences the same detachment with the interstate and its inhabitants, though in a different way. The orchestra of movement systems, including a nearby trainyard as well as a public lightrail system, creates an incredibly dynamic atmosphere in which experience constantly changes. This thesis seeks to explore how architecture can recognize and react to the constantly changing environment that has been created by modern systems of transport. The chosen program for this investigation is a biotech research facility. As the last 15 or 20 years have experienced an explosive growth in nearly all high-tech sectors, the structure and mindset of these companies have changed as well. This thesis maintains that transience and adaptability have replaced permanence and outward stability as legitimate modes of expressing an architecture that is reflective of contemporary life and its everyday realities. Rapid innovation has become crucial for technology-based companies to survive. This thesis seeks to investigate how architecture can reveal and build upon correlations between a marginal site and a program that holds promise to change contemporary life.

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