Historically, in Iran, ornament was an integral part of architecture and considered a valuable part of built form. However, in time the use of ornament suffered from the decline of figural articulation in architecture, and its status was diminished to mere decoration. In this process, ornament shifted from a pattern that was integrated with the structure to the role of revetment, from symbolic to commemorative, and from meaningfully designed to arbitrary. Investigating the changing modes of ornament to understand its significance and survival, this thesis looks at the decline of ornament from its role as a necessary structural component and/or an expressive element communicating the common values of a society into an arbitrary fragment celebrating the significant past. Traditional ornament was dependent not only on architecture but also on science, cosmology, culture, art, literature, as well as on society and its beliefs; therefore there was an intimate relationship between ornament and its context, and more importantly including the inhabitant or spectator who held those beliefs. However, today those close ties no longer exist and ornament is characterized variously as luxurious, decorative, and retrospective. This change is studied from various perspectives including historical forces, prehistory, traditional Persian cultural expression, the incursion of Islamic motifs and geometries, modernity and folk legend. To retrieve and reinstate the link between ornament and building as well as with the spectator, the thesis project engages the narrative content of ornament to re-establish these relationships. It tells its own story not in a literal way, but rather through the complex tale of the lovers in the famous historical poem (c.1190) by Nezami. The thesis narrates the epic romance of Farhad and Shirin within a love triangle with its superb pictorial cues for depiction. The story unfolds through a series of architectures and architectural representations and images. The theme and motifs of the poem imply transition (both spiritual and physical) that corresponds to the transformative mode of ornament par excellence. The ornamental manifestation of the depicted poem is applied in a subway station which is in itself the locus of transition in our contemporary lives. The architectural details of the design project are fragments of the selected episodes from the story.

Historically, in Iran, ornament was an integral part of architecture and considered a valuable part of built form. However, in time the use of ornament suffered from the decline of figural articulation in architecture, and its status was diminished to mere decoration. In this process, ornament shifted from a pattern that was integrated with the structure to the role of revetment, from symbolic to commemorative, and from meaningfully designed to arbitrary. Investigating the changing modes of ornament to understand its significance and survival, this thesis looks at the decline of ornament from its role as a necessary structural component and/or an expressive element communicating the common values of a society into an arbitrary fragment celebrating the significant past. Traditional ornament was dependent not only on architecture but also on science, cosmology, culture, art, literature, as well as on society and its beliefs; therefore there was an intimate relationship between ornament and its context, and more importantly including the inhabitant or spectator who held those beliefs. However, today those close ties no longer exist and ornament is characterized variously as luxurious, decorative, and retrospective. This change is studied from various perspectives including historical forces, prehistory, traditional Persian cultural expression, the incursion of Islamic motifs and geometries, modernity and folk legend. To retrieve and reinstate the link between ornament and building as well as with the spectator, the thesis project engages the narrative content of ornament to re-establish these relationships. It tells its own story not in a literal way, but rather through the complex tale of the lovers in the famous historical poem (c.1190) by Nezami. The thesis narrates the epic romance of Farhad and Shirin within a love triangle with its superb pictorial cues for depiction. The story unfolds through a series of architectures and architectural representations and images. The theme and motifs of the poem imply transition (both spiritual and physical) that corresponds to the transformative mode of ornament par excellence. The ornamental manifestation of the depicted poem is applied in a subway station which is in itself the locus of transition in our contemporary lives. The architectural details of the design project are fragments of the selected episodes from the story.

This thesis proposes turning a Toronto subway station into a gallery that will display temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. Islington subway station, on the corner of Bloor Street West and Islington Avenue, will anchor a future civic and cultural centre and will become the social and public focal point of Etobicoke Centre. The building will turn this neighbourhood into a vibrant community, creating a self-sustaining node around which people will live, work, and play. This proposal has been inspired by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s concept of the ‘third place’. In contrast to the first and second places of home and work, the third place encompasses the social realm, being a neutral space where people can gather and interact. The proposal for the Islington Gallery of Art also adapts new urbanist Peter Calthorpe’s theory of the ‘Transit Oriented Development’ where the subway station is the central node in the neighbourhood. Both of these concepts will be discussed further in the thesis. The Islington Gallery of Art will bring commuters a direct connection with culture. This gallery will transform the public space of infrastructure into a setting for informal public life. A third place will be created where one currently does not exist. The thesis combines the three narratives of public space, public transportation, and civic culture in the design of a mixed-use building. It explores how transportation infrastructure and architecture can combine with contemporary art to instigate the development for a new kind of place, one that isn’t a traditional street or square, near the periphery of the City of Toronto.

This thesis proposes turning a Toronto subway station into a gallery that will display temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. Islington subway station, on the corner of Bloor Street West and Islington Avenue, will anchor a future civic and cultural centre and will become the social and public focal point of Etobicoke Centre. The building will turn this neighbourhood into a vibrant community, creating a self-sustaining node around which people will live, work, and play. This proposal has been inspired by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s concept of the ‘third place’. In contrast to the first and second places of home and work, the third place encompasses the social realm, being a neutral space where people can gather and interact. The proposal for the Islington Gallery of Art also adapts new urbanist Peter Calthorpe’s theory of the ‘Transit Oriented Development’ where the subway station is the central node in the neighbourhood. Both of these concepts will be discussed further in the thesis. The Islington Gallery of Art will bring commuters a direct connection with culture. This gallery will transform the public space of infrastructure into a setting for informal public life. A third place will be created where one currently does not exist. The thesis combines the three narratives of public space, public transportation, and civic culture in the design of a mixed-use building. It explores how transportation infrastructure and architecture can combine with contemporary art to instigate the development for a new kind of place, one that isn’t a traditional street or square, near the periphery of the City of Toronto.

This thesis strives to establish a set of design guidelines for the upcoming Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit development in Toronto. The primary design goals are to promote an enjoyable travel experience to commuters, offer positive public spaces in vicinity, and contribute to the greater social and cultural matrices of the city. Under a realistic project setting, the study will meditate upon spatial anthropological theories to identify essential public space qualities and to formulate underground lighting strategies. The main objective is to complete the development of both underground station and surface stop prototypes that can be flexibly implemented along the entire transit line. The vision is for these stations to not only provide convenient public transit amenities but also function as locale identifiers, showcasing Toronto’s culture virtually as unique rooms in a gallery. Three sites are chosen: Mount Pleasant, Dufferin, and Keele stations. These stations will provide interesting conditions to demonstrate the way in which a set of design guidelines can facilitate the positive development of subway stations into the powerful loci envisioned.

This thesis strives to establish a set of design guidelines for the upcoming Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit development in Toronto. The primary design goals are to promote an enjoyable travel experience to commuters, offer positive public spaces in vicinity, and contribute to the greater social and cultural matrices of the city. Under a realistic project setting, the study will meditate upon spatial anthropological theories to identify essential public space qualities and to formulate underground lighting strategies. The main objective is to complete the development of both underground station and surface stop prototypes that can be flexibly implemented along the entire transit line. The vision is for these stations to not only provide convenient public transit amenities but also function as locale identifiers, showcasing Toronto’s culture virtually as unique rooms in a gallery. Three sites are chosen: Mount Pleasant, Dufferin, and Keele stations. These stations will provide interesting conditions to demonstrate the way in which a set of design guidelines can facilitate the positive development of subway stations into the powerful loci envisioned.

A Dissertação versa sobre as obras para a construção da Estação Sé do Metrô de São Paulo realizadas no início da década de 1970. O foco principal é o resultado dessa intervenção na praça produzida por aquelas obras. Antes, havia duas praças com importante história na cidade, a Praça da Sé, com a Catedral em seu ponto mais elevado, e a Praça Clóvis Beviláqua, com o Tribunal de Justiça como destaque, com um quarteirão todo edificado entre elas, que foi demolido para a construção da estação e da praça que surgiu. Dentre essas edificações demolidas, duas expressam muita simbologia e assumem caráter importante para o desenvolvimento do trabalho, o Palacete Santa Helena e o Edifício Mendes Caldeira. Aquele simbolizava o pensamento da esquerda e de uma época áurea da cidade; esse representou a força do autoritarismo, já que foi a primeira implosão realizada / This dissertation runs upon the works for the construction of the Sé Subway Station in Sao Paulo, conducted in the early 1970s. The main focus is the result of this intervention in the square produced by those works. Before, there were two squares with important history in the city, the Sé Square with the Cathedral at its highest point, and the Clovis Beviláqua Square, with the Court of Justice as a highlight, with a whole city block built between them, which was demolished to the construction of the station and the square that arose. Among those demolished buildings, two express much symbolism and play an important role in the development of this study: the Santa Helena Palace and the Mendes Caldeira Building. The first one symbolized the left wing thinking and a golden age of the city, the other one represented the strength of authoritarianism, since it was the first implosion held in the country at that time.

A Dissertação versa sobre as obras para a construção da Estação Sé do Metrô de São Paulo realizadas no início da década de 1970. O foco principal é o resultado dessa intervenção na praça produzida por aquelas obras. Antes, havia duas praças com importante história na cidade, a Praça da Sé, com a Catedral em seu ponto mais elevado, e a Praça Clóvis Beviláqua, com o Tribunal de Justiça como destaque, com um quarteirão todo edificado entre elas, que foi demolido para a construção da estação e da praça que surgiu. Dentre essas edificações demolidas, duas expressam muita simbologia e assumem caráter importante para o desenvolvimento do trabalho, o Palacete Santa Helena e o Edifício Mendes Caldeira. Aquele simbolizava o pensamento da esquerda e de uma época áurea da cidade; esse representou a força do autoritarismo, já que foi a primeira implosão realizada / This dissertation runs upon the works for the construction of the Sé Subway Station in Sao Paulo, conducted in the early 1970s. The main focus is the result of this intervention in the square produced by those works. Before, there were two squares with important history in the city, the Sé Square with the Cathedral at its highest point, and the Clovis Beviláqua Square, with the Court of Justice as a highlight, with a whole city block built between them, which was demolished to the construction of the station and the square that arose. Among those demolished buildings, two express much symbolism and play an important role in the development of this study: the Santa Helena Palace and the Mendes Caldeira Building. The first one symbolized the left wing thinking and a golden age of the city, the other one represented the strength of authoritarianism, since it was the first implosion held in the country at that time.