The ultimate aim in a project is to have a goal, or a set path to proceed along to get to the final result. This has always been given in the past and professors have told us: this is the site, this is the program, now develop a concept, help it take form and let it become a building. Thesis is different- a wide open canvas, Mateo speaks about how a project is a process with a fixed direction, but in this case the direction is determined by us. After four years of school, and countless sleepless nights, many know what interests them, and it is from that interest that the thesis can be developed. Essentially a year-long project that is completely determined by you and your interests, I believe that the most important thing is to pick something of interest. Something that will continue to raise questions without necessarily having cut and dry answers. Mateo compares this process to contamination, because the project will continue to grow and expand a little at a time. Although I do agree that the process will be somewhat of a “growth,” I also believe that it will not necessarily be a linear progression. We are in school to learn, and at some point in this process, the wrong path may be chosen that will not yield the correct outcome. I think that the hardest thing for me will be to realize when I begin to go in a different direction, and get quickly back on track.
Right now, the project is phantom-like, as Mateo describes it. Four years of school, and there are many, many questions about projects that we look to establish right away. Why are you doing this, what do you hope to achieve, how will you do this while engaging the site and arranging the program in the most optimal way. However, the project must be boiled down, so at the starting point it has one major goal, but also pieces of other things to be accomplished, all of which will not be included in the final execution. The hierarchical nature of the project is another important element, and the tree analogy is used to help understand this. Alluding back to what was addressed before and going on the wrong path can also fall under this category of the “tree.” Branches will sometimes hit dead ends and they will not go anywhere. In this case, the hierarchy must be established, and the “core” idea has to remain strong throughout the process. Once the core idea is established, this will be something that will not change. Although some paths may diverge, the main idea will remain strong. The internal structure, or the “tree” must then develop to form space, and from there, the outer membrane. All of this has to then be looked at in an urban context, and how the project will impact the region on a larger scale. In initial thoughts about a thesis, I would like to do something that looks at Pittsburgh’s historic roots, while at the same time has an aim of “progress” as a major driving factor. I believe that it is essential for the history of Pittsburgh to be utilized, as it is one of the few American cities that “is what it is,” and doesn’t try to hide its past. Specifically the steel mill industry, and the rich culture that the steel workers had- a sense of unity because they were bound together the steel mills. Pittsburgh has such a powerful history and such interesting pockets of culture that in a thesis I believe it will be interesting to look at how progress and history can work hand in hand. This involves looking to improve the conditions of people in the present through increasing walkability, green space, and overall way of life, while at the same time retaining that sense of the past and how people retain a great deal of pride in the history of the region. This revitalization like the thesis will not be a linear process, but rather a cycle, with different levels of information working together towards a common goal.
