The Shoppes on Main: Developing a Sense of Place

Abstract

This thesis researches and investigates the effect architectural space brings to a sense of place within an urban environment. Located on Main Avenue and 18th Street in Fargo, The Shoppes on Main: Developing a Sense of Place is a 90,508 sq. ft. mixed use building that the Fargo/Moorhead area community needs and will get use out of. “Cities are becoming meaningless places beyond their citizens’ grasp. We no longer know the origins of the world around us. We rarely know where the materials and products come from, who owns what, who is behind what, what was intended. We live in cities where things happen without warning and without our participation. It is an alien world for most people. It is little surprise that most withdraw from community involvement to enjoy their own private and limited worlds.” (Jacobs & Appleyard, 1987) The idea that an urban environment’s sense of place is influenced by architectural space is cause for deeper consideration; especially in light of particular cities and developments going through stages of growth and change. Through gathering both qualitative and quantitative information and analyzing it, this project’s aim is to find out if there is a way to keep up with rapidly changing technology, building construction, and architectural styles, and still give a thriving city its sense of place in its newest architecture? Can we avoid placelessness by implementing certain architecture within its respective place?