Pastiche as technique : inside an American palace

This thesis investigates the potential of opportunistic borrowing and blatant reference -- a postmodern approach pioneered by architects like Michael Graves, Robert Venturi and Charles Jencks -- through a renovation that reinstates a movie palace into a 99 cent store in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Instead of concentrating on the facade like postmodern architecture of the past, however, this thesis turns these techniques inward, as a way of designing the interior of the building; using an aesthetic which encourages nostalgia, that, through historical reference, can endear a design to a community, mitigate programmatic dischord, and provide unusual formal qualities. To find this nostalgic beauty, this thesis will revisit antique typologies like that of the movie palace and nickelodeon, out-dated architectural techniques like poche and pastiche, and forgotten forms of ornament. Iconography and ornamentation, rather than being mere decoration, form a membrane which acts as a cultural interface to site the building in a strong, diverse, and ultimately stubborn community.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Snavely, John Alan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• J. Meejin Yoon.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42079

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/42079