The paper consists of five steps. The first step is to study and explore theories of order, time image, and meaning of place. A hypothetical equation is proposed which defines a place as having three basic components: time, order and meaning. Special attention is paid to the time image of a place through the thesis. The second step is to organize the theories as a set of systematic design ideas. Twelve design categories are further introduced, which include Rhythm, Season, Celebration, Layer, Future, Sequence, Derelict, Night, Center, Boundary, and Sacred Places. The third step is to generate a set of patterns for the waterfront design under twelve design topics. Pattern is a bridge between principle and design. The conversion of a design idea into a design pattern can be seen as a procedure to test the validity of design ideas. The fourth step is to apply the design patterns to a specific site on the West Vancouver Waterfront. In a sense, the application of the patterns is an experiment, aimed at testing the patterns, hence the whole thesis as a hypothesis. The final step is to review and evaluate the thesis and the project. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

The thesis project reconstructs the relations between conflicting social groups through the exchange of goods and ideas in Portside Park. The project also explores how the evolution of an infrastructure is capable of criticizing the original conditions of its construction. This is completed through the design of a series of possible future events such as a pedestrian overpass, and public market in Portside Park on Vancouver's central waterfront. Robert Thayer Jr. and Bill Morrish were influential in exploring how we understand the landscape and the importance of visual ecology which expresses an ecology behind a site. A collective identity can be influenced by such ideas, and if given a place of importance, can also act as forums, adding more than just physical boundaries to the city. The project is sighted on the waterfront, a landscape that currently lies dormant and in a state of transition. The requirements for site selection were that the site must have the potential for an evolution of its own with hidden or unused elements that may be renewed and adapted to enrich the expression of the site. The starting point for the project was to speculate on a series of future events that respond to possible social and political forces affecting the site. The matrix was a method of determining the potential of the site. The moment that is detailed, for the purposes of this project, is the year 2020. At this time, the coil, a pedestrian overpass, responds to the permanence of the city through its 'building as wall' vocabulary. The wall is then transformed into a connection from the city to the park. The market shields the rail and opens up to the park. Here the boundary between the connector and enclosure has been inverted and the visitor is inserted into the market building. The visitor is released into the park in the company of others within a defined realm, shielded by a canopy of trees. The final place for quiet contemplation is the beach which remains open and exposed - the most valued and protected part of the park. Valued not for is aesthetic achievements but for its political and social meaning. The pedestrian embarks on a journey. Leaving the dense built environment of the city, the pedestrian ascends the public walkway over the tracks and gradually enters the transition of the bosk, where the mounds and trees enclose the body yet prepare him for the open water. In conclusion the project attempts to accommodate a place for the individual and the collective, it defines a place for establishing a coexistence. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

Architecture, it genuinely conceived and thoughtfully executed, can help to bring meaning and understanding to our existence. lt can evoke emotions that touch us, recall a memory long thought lost, mark and signal the passage of time, inspire us to do great things, and provide us with warmth and security even for a short while. Architecture can play host to our dreams. It is the role of the architect to create fragmentary places that stand as enclaves, as pockets of intolerance that resist the placelessness of modern culture, and that allow us to reach these ends. / Master of Architecture

In the act of building, man places himself between earth and sky. Where a wall is raised, a place becomes divided. Architecture occurs. One wall in one place begins to define three physical realities. The form and matter of a wall exist as one thing. Each side of the wall exists separately and face opposing parts. The wall is a barrier, yet acts as an architectural element that joins the two sides. / Master of Architecture