This thesis investigates the intervention of Performative Scapes into historical settings. It aims to initiate a poetic dialogue between the old-new, and the local-global, which imagines, transforms, and re-cultivates places of cultural significance.
School of Design | Graduate Interior Design
Student: Kavya Garg
Faculty: Neena Freedman
The thesis is structured around the exploration of the many different dialogues occurring simultaneously within the local and global context of the site. Staging connections and associations are one of the key strategies that inform the design and program of the Scapes both spatially and communally.
This thesis creates a dialogue between the old and the new. Performative art is used to create interventions in an abandoned and underutilized historical site to revitalize, re-purpose and reenergize the dormant space. Using the prism and synthesis of art, sound, and color from different cultures, this thesis investigates the connection between a local and global context celebrating the magnificent history of the site by designing a cultural and poetic destination for artists, locals, and tourists.
The site chosen is the Small Pox hospital on Roosevelt Island. It creates a cultural as well as a local dialogue. Standing nearby, across the Island, lies the United Nations Headquarters, It creates a symbiotic cultural relationship with the Island. This adds up to the culturally diverse population on the island with a large number of diplomats working in the UN. . Due to the multicultural diversity existing within the context and being the only landmarked ruin in the city makes this a highly suitable site for this thesis. Additionally, the View-framing along the axis of the park and the water helps to make a beautiful connection with the natural context of the site.
The program is informed by the dialogue between the local and global by using the strategy: Exchange and connection. A lot of the spaces are influenced by different cultures.
Each of these portals begins to define the space using the geometry and color of textiles and cultures. The horizontal portals use stone and water to harmonize the context, while the vertical used layering through cultural textiles and glass. Local + Global dialogue refers to cultural diversity and exchange, which is also referring to the influence of the United Nations on the site. This helped to develop the material palette, and the concept of extracting this concept was based on the dialogue between the United Nations and the local natural context. The program is divided into 3 categories: EXPLORE, ENGAGE, CREATE
Engage – (Art)scapes being the driving program consists of temporary and permanent exhibitions of rocks and stones from different cultures. It will also engage in showcasing and promoting talents from across cultures.
Explore – (Sound)scapes use the city sounds like an orchestral archive where indigenous sounds are extracted from diverse environments to listen, play and program new sounds, creating a dialogue and collage between the architecture of the space and surrounding sounds. Here, the medium of sound baths and Vedic chanting have been used to curate the experience.
Create– is about the exchange of thoughts and ideas through workshops and interactive events.
These spaces convey the occurrence of simultaneous dialogues:
• Art + space = Layering
• Sound + space= Juxtaposition, Staging
