The subliminal passage: Landscape as a constructing force in urban space and habitat design (Alberta)

The Master's Degree Project is an investigation into the potential of landscape as a constructing force in architectural design. Landscape is explored at three scales: the urban domain of the city, the public realm of an urban space and the private realm of the individual dwelling. At the scale of the city, landscape becomes the means to integrate a new architectural intervention into the urban fabric. Thus, the investigation starts at a distance, away from a particular site. It begins with a description of three existing landscapes: the urban landscape, the suburban landscape, and the new urbanism landscape. This sets the stage for the design intervention: the proposal of a new landscape that accommodates both the public and the private. The investigation then zooms in closer, in front of a specific site in the inner city. Here, through the construction of an artificial topography which acts as a continuous, diverse and stimulating urban space, landscape becomes the manipulation ground plane. Finally, the scale zooms into the interior of an individual residential unit on the site. At this scale, landscape becomes an image; it is the exterior view. Here, landscape constructs two alternate conditions of living within the urban fabric, each one having its own relationship to the immediate site and the city beyond.; The site is a city block in downtown Calgary, currently bisected by the Canadian Pacific Railway lines. It is surrounded by a diverse range of densities, scales, and programs. The design proposes both an urban space intervention on the ground and a habitat intervention elevated above the ground. It is the intention that these two components work synergistically to become significant within the parameters of the site, and the city of Calgary. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...