Graduate Thesis Project

This thesis investigates the use of architecture to
better communicate the story of a place. Washington,
DC is a city of memorials; filled to the brim
with a certain typology that references historical
figures and events. The particular moment in time
that this thesis explores is the riots of 1968 after
Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. This
supposedly riot-proof city was deeply damaged by
the riots. King himself defined a riot as a group
of people that are not being heard; a community
that is misinformed and has suppressed opinions.
All of this fosters a quiet anger that is released
when something drastic and sudden happens.
The response is a platform (literal and figurative)
for expression, whether it be verbal, visual or
performative. The common pedestrian is invited
to speak up concerns, voice opinions, or simply
engage with one another through the Plaza of
Expression. A light installation becomes part
of the landscape by connecting these once
characteristically disrupted neighborhoods of Shaw
and Columbia Heights as a behaviorally interactive
and timed sequence that is constantly changing
depending on user performance.