To clarify and condense our Theses into something concrete, the Thesis prep group was given a funny assignment. Andrew (Scott, Thesis prep coordinator) asked us to write our Thesis as if it were a studio brief. It, like everything else, is just a draft and subject to MANY future revisions, but I thought I'd share it here.
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Design AssignmentConceptual Context: In recent years, societies have been homogenized from trends toward Globalization and consolidation. These trends have been advancing both economically and structurally. Today, there is a reaction against the notion of globalization is a positive and inevitable trend going forward. Fallout from the current global financial meltdown is an example of this. A new model of operation, both economically and socially, will be needed for the discipline of architecture.
The discipline of architecture is inextricably linked to these trends. In the global condition, architects operate as metaphorical tourists, traveling to new countries with each project. Often, architects often have little knowledge of the locality in which they operate. When top architects operate in this manner, as ‘archi-tourists’, they produce literal tourist destinations. This tourism produces a false identity for their localities.
Addressing new possibilities for the relationship of global and local through the lens of tourism can become a model for the future of practice. The project takes a context which has a direct confrontational relationship between global and local and addresses this relationship through architecture. Specifically, this project seeks to empower the local in this relationship. How can localities, which have in recent architectural history been subordinated or ‘exoticized’, re-assert agency in the architectural process? Beyond how this relationship is defined, what architecture would be produced in this redefined relationship?
Design Assignment: The critical project to address this question is located in the new nation-state of The Republic of Kosovo. As it currently stands, Kosovo has declared Independence and is partially recognized as the newest Nation-State. The last several decades of Kosovo’s history has been at once tumultuous and defining for its identity. Kosovo has a complex relationship to the global; global powers have governed, policed, and financed the state for over a decade. In this sense, Kosovo has many similarities to a post-colonial state.
In recognizing that this global connection is essential to Kosovo, the new country needs to use this international presence to address the redefinition of global-local and satisfy its own pressing need to establish the legitimacy of its new government. The project will therefore be a capital complex for the government of Kosovo, opportunistically funded and provided by international presences within Kosovo.
The project will be designed for two separate programs removed from each other in time. The international presence, defined by UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) will provide a network of structures for an international expo introducing Kosovo to the world order through tourism. This global act is inherently subverted: a rule-set for design and construction of the expo will ensure that the architecture is intended for the local program of the capital complex.
The uneasy alliance between the two programs will necessitate a redefinition of both. The global expo, through the design rules, will have to address locality in an unprecedented way for world expos. The capital complex is forced to address its own contingency and reliance on the global presence within its boundaries. The capital complex also cannot be idealized as in historical precedent; in dovetailing with a highly public and touristic program, the architecture will have to redefine the government’s relationship to its constituent public in terms of integration and transparency with the urban context.
Physical Context: Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, is the location of the project. The specific site is to be determined by the student relative to their scheme, whether they operate in one location, disperse throughout the city, etc: the whole city is fair game.
The project will operate on 2 scales
o Urban: The student will first develop a scheme for the location and integration of the expo complex will be developed at an urban scale.
o Architectural: the student will then develop--to a high level of architectural development--a small number of specific buildings in the site. Ideally, this would consist of two buildings within the program. These components of the project serve as rule-set “tests”
Process of Inquiry:1. Spring Semester
• Prior to the beginning of the studio, the students will organize to collect all necessary research and documentation relative to the program and site.
2. Summer Travel
• The Studio will travel over the summer for site investigation within Kosovo.
• Students will define their site strategy in order to collect all necessary site documentation
3. Fall Semester
• Assignment 1: Urban scale Scheme
• Assignment 2: Architectural Rule-set and project tests
o Testing and revision will be a repetitive process throughout the semester.
o A majority of the fall studio will focus on this component of the project.
Issues addressed during the design • Urban scale issues
o Connectivity to the city fabric at large
o concerns of infrastructure
o relationships of disparate elements of the program
o issues of transparency and security in complex plan
• Architectural scale
o hybrid design and alterability between programs
o re-definition of building typology in terms of transparency and accessibility to the public.
