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, L. David Fox

Abstract

“When I apply the term humanist to a city, I refer to a place in which the traces of a past – of difference cultural epochs and styles – are vivid and evident; a city in which, during the course of history, intellectual and physical effort and have shaped its Gestalt in such a way that political, social, and aesthetic ideas and utopias coincide with the history of architecture and urban design. A city evolves in this way: dialectically exposed architectural elements and fragments exist side by side, sometimes contradicting and sometimes complementing each other, but always enriching the urban and thereby the intellectual quality of the city.” - Matthias Oswald Ungers

Walter Benjamin once commented on the fact that architecture is appreciated in a state of distraction. It shelters us and controls our daily activities. It is so integral in these activities yet it fades into the background. It is so intertwined with the events of everyday existence that its slow addition and deletion to and from our fast paced environment goes relatively unnoticed. This process of addition and subtraction does begin to build up though, forming an interplay of old and new elements. This superimposition becomes a physical form of a cultural definition through the built environment. It follows that if the overlay of temporally unrelated building events informs our reading of the built environment, then the nature of specific events should be designed not only individually, but also as part of a larger cultural whole, so their trace can be given context and meaning.

In some instances the built environment is completely obliterated to allow for new development. These deletions and subsequent additions occur with no trace remaining from the previous constructions. This thesis will assert that these traces are important in forming a cultural definition through architecture. A rich assimilation of the past is necessary in order to preserve and further our cultural tradition.

Therefore, the built environment must be critically evaluated within this context. Art and architecture must, in some manner, engage history as it is experienced on a daily basis. To accomplish this, architecture can be regarded as a palimpsest. Traditionally, a palimpsest is a piece of paper or parchment that can be reused. The original writing is rubbed away and new material is added. The trace of original material remains even after its erasure. The palimpsest becomes defined by the superimposition of new material on remaining traces. New building is a fresh layer on the palimpsest. This thesis explores the placement of a new building into an historically rich context using the metaphor of the palimpsest. It treats architecture as palimpsest.

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