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Topologies of place: a building in the landscape Meissner, Brian August
Abstract
Sited on the bed of an ancient rail spur within the now abandoned plat of East Princeton, British Columbia, this project consists of two unprogrammed buildings constructed using a palette of physical and poetic materials which emerge from a deep understanding of a particular site. The project begins with the assumption that cultural process is an amazing energy which does not require architecture specifically. Architecture may, however, provide a catalyst for cultural/ social dynamic and can provide a medium for its expression. Explorations undertaken are dependent upon an idea of place as an intersection of social, economic, political, historical, and physical relations within a kind of topological space. In the context of a particular site and through studies of a layering of conditions present at a precise point in time, this idea of place is used to uncover specific interactions between myth, persons, artifacts, and other factors which help lay the framework for a building in the landscape. Most importantly the project is about personal design process and discovery. Throughout the study the project is very much in control of the author with each stage of the study generating its own operating agenda. Thus an idea about the limits of architecture leads to a condition of site which itself leads to a particular map and finally to a highly specific site. Likewise program is allowed to emerge from studies of the site so that building and the desire to build become the catalyst for program rather than vise-versa. As these explorations intersect and overlap they begin to reveal a topology of place which is highly specific, but which contains links to an infinite set of other relationships and possibilities. Thus, architecture is employed as a catalyst for place expression, or as an avenue towards understanding place.
Item Metadata
Title |
Topologies of place: a building in the landscape
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1998
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Description |
Sited on the bed of an ancient rail spur within the now abandoned plat of East
Princeton, British Columbia, this project consists of two unprogrammed buildings constructed
using a palette of physical and poetic materials which emerge from a deep understanding of a
particular site.
The project begins with the assumption that cultural process is an amazing energy which
does not require architecture specifically. Architecture may, however, provide a catalyst for cultural/
social dynamic and can provide a medium for its expression.
Explorations undertaken are dependent upon an idea of place as an intersection of
social, economic, political, historical, and physical relations within a kind of topological space.
In the context of a particular site and through studies of a layering of conditions present at a
precise point in time, this idea of place is used to uncover specific interactions between myth,
persons, artifacts, and other factors which help lay the framework for a building in the landscape.
Most importantly the project is about personal design process and discovery. Throughout
the study the project is very much in control of the author with each stage of the study generating
its own operating agenda. Thus an idea about the limits of architecture leads to a condition
of site which itself leads to a particular map and finally to a highly specific site. Likewise program
is allowed to emerge from studies of the site so that building and the desire to build
become the catalyst for program rather than vise-versa. As these explorations intersect and
overlap they begin to reveal a topology of place which is highly specific, but which contains
links to an infinite set of other relationships and possibilities. Thus, architecture is employed as
a catalyst for place expression, or as an avenue towards understanding place.
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Extent |
3893210 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-05-19
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0099287
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1998-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.