ABSTRACT Title of Thesis: The Side-Stage A Critical Cultural Awareness Forum in Washington, D.C. Degree Candidate: Matthew Aaron Peters, Master of Architecture, 2005 Advisory Committee: Professor Guido Francescato, Chair Dean Garth Rockcastle, FAIA Lecturer Michael Ambrose Throughout history culture and place have been dynamic concepts. Major factors contribute to both their evolution and deterioration as recognizable characteristics of a society. Since humans began manipulating and adding to the environment some of the notable influences on place and culture have been the inventions of language, the printing press, electricity, the automobile, and many others. With the recent innovations associated with electronic media, namely television and the Internet, place and culture have once again been dramatically altered. There is never a seamless transition when societies adopt new ways of communicating and interacting, rather, there are periods that require the re-balancing of morals and values. Lacking in the public realm and urban fabric of U.S. cities are places to partake in the discourse and deliberation associated with shifts in communication and interaction rituals due to the ubiquity of electronic media. This thesis reclaims a vital part of the urban experience in the form of a public forum while at the same time celebrating the creation, critique, and consumption of culture associated with electronic media. Located in downtown Washington D.C., this project appropriately situates itself amidst the FBI building, the Spy Museum, and a number of cultural institutions. The political nature and scope of this thesis, therefore, is dramatically strengthened due to its surrounding context as the capital of the United States of America.THE SIDE STAGE A CRITICAL CULTURAL AWARENESS FORUM IN WASHINGTON, D.C. By Matthew Aaron Peters Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture 2005 Advisory Committee: Professor Guido Francescato, Chair Lecturer Michael Ambrose Dean Garth Rockcastle, FAIA©Copyright by Matthew Aaron Peters 2005ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to Merlin, the Microsoft Word Assistant, for tirelessly helping me put this document together.iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..........................................................................................................iv INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1 Setting the Stage...............................................................................................................2 Spectator Sport...............................................................................................................10 This Will Enrich That ....................................................................................................19 Glossary of Terms and Phrases......................................................................................23 CHAPTER ONE – RAISON D’ETRE...........................................................................25 CHAPTER TWO – SITE................................................................................................29 CHAPTER THREE – GOALS AND ISSUES...............................................................53 Design Goals..................................................................................................................54 Special Design Issues/Challenges..................................................................................56 CHAPTER FOUR - PRECEDENTS .............................................................................57 Paris Opera House..........................................................................................................58 BBC Radio Center .........................................................................................................62 Tokyo International Forum............................................................................................67 Sendai Mediatheque .......................................................................................................71 CHAPTER FIVE - INTERVENTIONS.........................................................................84 Networked Urbanism.....................................................................................................85 Congestion Charging .....................................................................................................87 The 8th Street Pedestrian Mall........................................................................................96 CHAPTER SIX - PROGRAM......................................................................................102 Institutions....................................................................................................................103 Higher Education.........................................................................................................105 The Public Realm.........................................................................................................107 Square Footages ...........................................................................................................108 CHAPTER SEVEN – PRE-SCHEMATIC ALTERNATIVES .................................114 CHAPTER EIGHT – CONLUSIONS AND SYNTHESIS ........................................117 NOTES ............................................................................................................................136 BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................137iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Diagram of Front Stages, Interactive and Reciprocal Relationship................... 2 Figure 2 - Diagram of Front Stages and Back Stages, where the Back Stages are hidden from the opposing Front Stage.................................................................................... 3 Figure 3 - Front Stages, Back Stages, and Side Stage; where the Side Stage has a View of the Transition between the Performer's Front and Back Stages ................................. 5 Figure 4 – The home viewer being controlled through surveillance ................................ 11 Figure 5 – The home viewer being controlled