Event-bound architecture: A gathering place for the guest people

• Main Author: Keleher, Rosana Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: Architecture
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1911/13585

Coding a building for a specific group of users may help re-define the sense of place Architecture provides in a mobile society. The key is to first find and define such a code within the cultural heritage of the users; and second, to embed the code into the architecture. The resulting building then straddles the line between permanent and ephemeral. It is permanent in the sense that it can be used indefinitely by the general populace for a variety of functions. It is ephemeral in the sense than when the intended user occupies the building, it takes on an entirely new meaning and function. Written Chinese becomes the code for the Hakka or Guest People of China. It is the character "guest" that becomes embedded in the Gathering Place that is designed for them in Southwest Houston.