Kacy A. Cunningham 555 Huntington Avenue | Boston, MA 02115 kacy.anne.cunningham@gmail.com 603.393.7712
Persephone: An Infrastructure for the Instincts September 2013-April 2014 | Thesis Studio Persephone, born from the minds of architecture and nature, negotiates a divided existence, striving to become a bridge between two worlds. A product of nature Persephone is deeply in tuned and connected with the natural world. Without the two working together, both the natural and constructed realms will greatly suffer. However unaware of these severe consequences, humanity long ago traded this connection for the promises of city life. Under the pretense of progress, the tremont tunnel was conceived to “save the city above”. Through time, and through more construction, this natural connection was slowly lost. Years later severe consequences for the lives of humanity and the cycle of nature herself began to emerge. Realizing something needed to be done, architects have since attempted to bring back this connection between the natural and the constructed. However humanity had already been fed the forbidden seeds and temptations of constructed life, so it became a change that was hard to commit to, and even more difficult to truly integrate. Persephone, however, will become this bridge, a true compromise between worlds. Transforming under utilized portions of already existing infrastructures, these spaces can once again be used to enrich the world above. Like everything in life seasons are crucial, change is necessary, and so is the cycle of life and time. Anew the tremont tunnel, in its third life, will set the stage for Persephone, once again “saving the world above”.