Site:
Thesis:
williamsburg, virginia THE PERPETUAL collaborative crossroads for unexpected connections TOURIST: Through architectural intervention in a town of competing intentions, this thesis seeks to emphasize the significance of physical meeting places as a catalyst for the creation of social networks. This thesis takes into consideration the urban types of the college town and the tourist town; both embodied in Williamsburg, Virginia. These specialized urban systems are alike in one critical aspect; the dissemination of knowledge is central to their success. Because of associative connections to a larger institutional or tourism networks, both urban types maintain the ability to expand local and distant information networks. However, compartmentalization of the each creates physical and social enclosures, therein compromising information accessibility.
Q1:
G1:
Q2:
Method:
Program:
Modern epicenters of information logistics are nexuses of collaboration, information access, and innovation. Williamsburg embodies an ideal site for such events to occur within a historically information-receptive environments of tourism and education. The capability to share knowledge is linked to the unique presence of students and visitors; the town’s ‘perpetual tourists.’
Maintained by The College of William & Mary, the Collaborative Crossroads Center is organized to accommodate the spontaneous sourcing of local and distant knowledge. To capitalize on the diverse backgrounds of visitors, the architecture is responsive to shifts in population trends—resulting in a negotiation of spaces between students, locals, and tourists. Building off the presence of an existing ticket boot as a tourism attractor and living case study for local knowledge, the C3 is a social condenser for a town of competing intentions. By creating spaces of customization, congregation, and collaboration, the millions of temporary inhabitants passing through the city will engage Williamsburg’s local population to develop a contemporary network-place.
Can the use of social spaces be customized to represent the transient nature of modern urban environments?
How can visitors and tourists be encouraged to collaborate with more permanent students and local populations?
G2:
Q3:
Establish an architectural language of adaptable materiality to facilitate the personalization of space.
Blend the boundaries of local-territoriy and tourist-territory through visual, cognitive, and contextual associations while creating large-scale connections to other places of collaboration.
How can architecture support the distribution of information relevant to both local and global scales?
G3:
Promote the personalization of space by both local and global users to develop social associations at various scales.
Justin Konicek