Abstract:
Through the design of a multiple public scenarios such as a washroom, car wash, bus stop, and park, this thesis seeks to engage citizens in the experience of contradiction of being in public but yet being in private; of being unsure about who the "public really is and who can claim a stake on that space. Th s thesis seeks to appropriate public land for public services By providing a program that is common to all, the project hopes to engage and reach the public and help realize a truly public architecture. Using the commonplace and everyday as a sprngboard to truIy bring about change, perhaps it is possible to achieve the ideas of sociaI justice via the creation of a truly public space. By providing a pubIic service, it is possible to then allow for the integration of aII people, homeless peopIe included, without forcing the issue or trivializing a response. A good understanding of the "parts" will allow for the reconfiguration and alteration of those parts into new tendencies and relationships that lead to new understandings of experience and of space. The unique nature of individual parts and the combination of them to form a whole involves resistance reaction and conflict and it is within this working relationship of conflict and challenge that invites possibility for resolution and collaboration.
