The Labyrinth Studies: Exhibiting Culture through Art & Architecture

Abstract

Our institutions are predicated on a stable and predictable ground on which to enact our daily affairs. Because architecture embodies our social, cultural, and political beliefs and values, when these beliefs become oppressive and burdensome our architecture reflects this. The Labyrinth Studies: Exhibiting Culture through Art & Architecture utilizes the ubiquitous nature of transformation exuberated by the labyrinth, witnessed in art and architecture throughout history, to explore architecture’s ability to resonate amid the developing ethics and beliefs it embodies.

Minneapolis Minnesota exhibits a unique identity of art and culture, along with displaying a high demand for public art facilities. This thesis will utilize the existing cultural characteristics of the region and implement them into a public art center and gallery. With the accelerated development of our existing culture architects must recognize that change is inevitable. Through the engagement of cultural characteristics architecture can begin to act as a framework in allowing that change to occur, while reinforcing the historical, cultural, or experiential fabric of a community