Revitalizing Ghosts: Breathing New Life into Disused Developments to Foster Resilience
Abstract
This thesis aims to study the “intangible connector” and apply it to a master plan development. The “intangible connector” are the words used to describe the feeling, the pull, and the attachment people have to a place. The idea of figuring out what is the connector for people and buildings. Taking these key factors that make up this connection, then applying them to a new site development design.
Landscapes and environments should not be limited to nature, but continued through what is designed in the built environment. A sense of place, human scale, and taking cues from the natural world should be a necessity in the creation of architecture. The goal of this thesis is to design for the overall human experience and establish a stronger connection with the surrounding environment, both built and natural. The study of an “intangible connector”, which could be described as the attachment and pull of people to an entity, is analyzed and applied to the built environment. The consideration of how this feeling can be enhanced and designed within the scope of a master plan development is applied. Therefore, the incorporation of biophilic design in an adaptive, mixed-use development master plan aims to create this connection.
Through the adaptive reuse of abandoned box stores and sites which lay across the American landscape of cities and towns today, revitalization can breathe life back into ghost areas. Designing a development which promotes walkability, interactions, and connections, a resilient form of the urban environment can emerge. The adaptive reuse of a site, along with biophilic design, are integrated to revitalize a dimming area and create a catalyst for human connection to the built environment. Architecture should aim to create for the future, with the notion of a world that is not static.