Architecture(s) of Dialogue
This semester's graduation project seeks to foreground an architectural approach that acknowledges and engages with existing natural and built environments. Rather than perceiving architecture as a creation in isolation, the project emphasizes its emergence from an ongoing dialogue with pre-existing conditions and contextual layers.
The project theme revolves around the design of a museum expansion that functions as an interface for learning, research, and cultural engagement. The expansion is envisioned as a space that fosters a deeper understanding of human history, cultural memory, and the evolving relationship between societies and their environments. It seeks to provide a platform for both preserving and communicating heritage while accommodating the changing needs of future generations.
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Research within this theme is proposed to be carried out in three primary areas:
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Cultural Continuity and Transformation: This research area focuses on how architecture can act as a vessel for cultural memory, preserving traces of the past while remaining open to future transformations. It investigates how design can bridge historical narratives and contemporary contexts, ensuring that architecture contributes to cultural continuity while allowing for reinterpretation and change over time.
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Spatial and Social Interaction: This field examines the role of architecture in facilitating encounters and interactions within both social and spatial contexts. It explores how architectural spaces can foster dialogue between diverse users, create grounds for community engagement, and strengthen social bonds. The study includes the design of flexible and adaptable spaces that accommodate evolving societal needs.
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Contextual Integration: The final area of research centers on the relationship between the architectural intervention and its physical, cultural, and historical surroundings. It investigates strategies for integrating the new structure into its existing context in a way that respects and enhances its environment. This involves examining the spatial-formal and tectonic relationships between the expansion and the existing museum, as well as considering broader urban, cultural, and ecological factors.
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The museum expansion project is intended to reflect an architectural approach that prioritizes dialogue—between past and present, between architecture and context, and between different users and communities. It emphasizes the role of architecture as a medium that carries cultural narratives forward, while also being responsive to the dynamic and ever-changing conditions of the world around it.