The Making of Character: When Space Becomes Room, and Room Becomes Place

This thesis explores how downtown public spaces can strengthen community life by rethinking the idea of the "third place," spaces outside home and work where people gather. Using downtown Blacksburg as the main site and comparing it with examples from Charlottesville and Gatlinburg, the study examines how design and the use of form can activate downtown streets and create meaningful experiences. The findings show that design can transform ordinary streets into places of character, where a space becomes a room and a room becomes a place of connection.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Architecture

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Architecture

Department dc:contributor.department

Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Khalili, Hasti

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Vorster, Clive R.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Bassett, James
• Dai, Sida
• Jones, James R.

• Architecture
• Third Place
• Character
• Room
• Blacksburg
• Downtown Blacksburg
• Grid

Statement dc:rights

• Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:44526

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/137778