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The Wall as Moment and Place: Case Studies on the Significance of the Wall

Orsini, John F., A.I.A.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1460736536

Abstract Details

2016, MARCH, Kent State University, College of Architecture and Environmental Design.
The Wall as Moment and Place: Case Studies on the Wall’s Significance. "The Mending Wall," a poem written by Robert Frost in 1914, can be seen as metaphoric of two opposing points of view held between neighbors. On one hand, there is Frost's simple allusion to the physical completion and restoration of a stone wall that bounds two properties. Yet the poem expands to also suggest that differences in ideologies is the real reason for a separating wall or boundary. The two neighbors walk along each side with a wall between. Frost's use of the word between has two interpretations. One implies a physical separation or boundary, while his other interpretation symbolizes a binary relationship or a dialog of ideas, thoughts, connections, or human experiences. Yet the condition suggested by Frost's wall can vary from fully opaque to translucent, transparent, or an open frame straddling both sides but permitting views between. The wall in Frost's poem suggests both a physical boundary and a metaphysical relationship that impacts the reader's understanding of place and position. As this inquiry implies, the physical characteristics of a wall can vary from solidity and structural mass, a thin and translucent skin separating two sides, a transparent barrier that allows for a visual connection, or to an open frame that only implies a physical separation. What does, and what can, a wall achieve between two spaces? In architectural thinking, walls are not only physical elements, but they are also collocated with certain experiences, memories, and meanings. The wall can also be perceived as a symbol which requires the constant rethinking of its relevance in relation to its surroundings. This investigation explores what a wall is and how walls transform from being mere boundaries that contain and compartmentalize space into something full of human experience and meaning. As Frost suggests the perennial task of mending the wall is one of a physical rebuilding and one of a remembering of the continued relationship between two neighbors. The moment at the wall provides a temporal connection, otherwise understood as an open boundary of discovery, between the two sides. Frost's iconic adage, "Good fences make good neighbors," is about sustaining relationships. This very idea implies, in an oxymoronic manner, the appropriate design and maintenance of walls. Through descriptive prose and inquiry into specific case studies, this investigation studies how walls manifest into relationships that are at once physical and then emotional. Walls are a medium of gradient symbols that not only divide differences, but also forms meaningful connections between materials and humans.
William Willoughby, A.I.A. (Advisor)
123 p.
Architecture
Wall; Solidity; Translucency; Transparency; Open Frame; Between

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Orsini, A.I.A., J. F. (2016). The Wall as Moment and Place: Case Studies on the Significance of the Wall [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1460736536

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Orsini, A.I.A., John. The Wall as Moment and Place: Case Studies on the Significance of the Wall. 2016. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1460736536.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Orsini, A.I.A., John. "The Wall as Moment and Place: Case Studies on the Significance of the Wall." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1460736536

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.