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Gradients of Meaning: Spatial Mediations within Liminal Conditions at the World Trade Center

Johnson, Katherine A

Abstract Details

2014, MARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
Scarred by violence and marked by heroism, the hallowed ground on which the World Trade Center twin towers once stood has been transformed through twelve grueling years of fighting, planning, and building. The outcome attempts to pay homage to both the violence and heroism of September 11th while simultaneously allowing the commercial armature of the city to reclaim part of its land. Spanning from the highest point on the island to the depths of the Manhattan bedrock, the complex spatial puzzle of the World Trade Center site allows programs of remembrance and mourning to rest neatly next to retail and transportation infrastructure. While these adjacencies work in plan, they lack meaningful experiential connections. Through an analysis of planned circulation, this thesis addresses the disjunctions between practical, utilitarian spaces and the intense emotional experiences which are traversed by visitors on the site. From this study, liminal insertions will be made between the greatest disconnections of program and emotion. Meaningful connections will be established through an introduction of the mechanism of memorialization specific to the context of each intervention. Projected onto the architecture, the memorial technique will address the emotional shifts between both ends of the mediating space.
Aarati Kanekar, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Michael McInturf, M.Arch. (Committee Member)
51 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Johnson, K. A. (2014). Gradients of Meaning: Spatial Mediations within Liminal Conditions at the World Trade Center [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1397477242

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Johnson, Katherine. Gradients of Meaning: Spatial Mediations within Liminal Conditions at the World Trade Center. 2014. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1397477242.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Johnson, Katherine. "Gradients of Meaning: Spatial Mediations within Liminal Conditions at the World Trade Center." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1397477242

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)