It is my intention that the building be both sympathetic to its urban and historic context and clear in the development of a new identity for an embassy complex. The building makes careful connections to the proportions and geometries of classical Italian architecture, while establishing landmark elements which are harmonious parts of a new urban focus. Such connections are not abstract, but help to engage the building in a lively conversation with its historic context. / Master of Architecture

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes special report study entitled: Planning for security in consulate building. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes special report study entitled : Planning for security in consulate building. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes special report study entitled: Intelligent building envelope. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes special report study entitled : Intelligent building envelope. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

My thesis project explores the ability of architecture to represent a culture in a meaningful way. The embassy is technically in Brazil but surrounded by the District of Columbia, USA. This poses questions about culture, ecology, and geography. The challenge is how to design a cultural-specific building without it becoming a World's Fair pavilion or a cultural cliché. World's Fair pavilions often represent just a moment within a nation's ongoing architectural discourse, as is fitting for their temporary status. Some embassies are cultural clichés, which look like how uneducated residents of the host county perceive a foreign land and are invitations to form cultural stereotypes. My approach to answering this thesis question is in the process of translating Brazilian culture through the lens of my own culture using the medium of design and construction. This process can be described as translational architecture. The act of translation does not consist merely of mimicry but a transformation into something similar yet substantively different. This act of translation disrupts the implicit superiority of the original because the translation can have its own life, character, and depth. / Master of Architecture

There never comes a point at which we can declare any building "finished", and never touch it again; if we were to do this it would signal a sad sort of death and the end of the building's use, because it is by a continual process of revision that they fulfill our ever-changing needs and tastes. However, acknowledging this dynamic aspect of the nature of buildings brings the role of the architect into question; how can we design a building, make drawings and reach practical completion on a building site whilst being aware of the looming future, with its eternal punch list of alterations? Or, how can an awareness of passing time as a gradual tweaker, weatherer, and alterer of buildings be seen not as a problem or annoyance for the architect, but as a generous and reliable source of inspiration, a giver of richness, even a generator of good design? The project aims to answer this question by suggesting a way of building slowly, over decades, always looking forward and back. / Master of Architecture

Our culture is our identity. It is the complex summation of our history and future. It is who we are and who we will be as individuals and as nations. As our world becomes more and more globalized our cultures are merging. Many seek to preserve their identity. The embassy becomes the architectural frontier for this immersion and interactions with other cultures. It is tasked with being the face, or rather facade of the country. It is tasked with being a secure yet welcoming place for its own nationals and guests. In being the cultural face of a nation, an embassy takes on a public, educational role within the community. This thesis explores how culture, traditional and current, can be showcased in the design of a functional, educational space of a Korean embassy in Washington, D.C. What is transported and what is translated? How does this effect our experience and understanding of it? / Master of Architecture / This thesis explores the process of imbuing Korea culture into nontraditional architecture. Throughout the study the shape of the building developed with the purpose of showcasing various aspects of Korean culture for guests of the embassy. The embassy is designed to function, containing open and private offices, an assembly space, a cafe, and a museum. The embassy is made up of three consecutive buildings and reaches five stories and a basement. The site has an extremely steep hill which was a difficult obstacle to overcome. Scenic views are set up throughout the embassy with the intention of connecting the viewer to the outside and to the courtyard. The goal of the building was to provide an educational cultural experience to the guests.

The 1968 Tet offensive is referred to as the turning point in the Vietnam War. Of the many battles of Tet, the attack on the American Embassy in Saigon stands out. It is neither the battle's size nor its casualties that makes it important. The significance of the embassy attack lay in the way it was conveyed to the American public. I argue that the 1968 attack on the American Embassy in Saigon served as a catalyst for the media to criticize the government's conduct of the Vietnam War and aided in turning the American public against the war. The news media aided this shift in opinion through its coverage and subsequent narrative of the attack on the U.S. Embassy. My goal is to examine the ongoing relationship between the media and the public by examining the major newspapers; the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and the Christian Science Monitor, and the major news magazines, Time, Life, and Newsweek. It is important to observe that the news media is still a business that must appeal to its customers (readers and advertisers). As the public view changed, the media reflected that change in order to appeal to its audience. At the same time the news media's consistency of war coverage and reflection of public sentiment helped further perpetuate the public's disapproval of the conflict and continued this cycle. How did the media report the unexpected attack on the American Embassy and how did it affect public opinion of Vietnam? How does the press coverage of the embassy attack fit in the larger context of media coverage of the Tet Offensive in determining the relationship between the media and the public? Which one influenced the other in creating opinions of the Vietnam War? These questions are important not only because the news media was a major contributor to Americans' knowledge of the war but also because of the role the media plays in the society of the era and how its narrative became the historical narrative. My focus on the U.S. Embassy attack during the Tet Offensive is due to the chaos that surrounded the attack not only from the military's perspective but also from the media's. Since the attack took place in Saigon, headquarters of the media companies' in Vietnam, it was readily accessible to journalists. The attacks surprised the military, government, and the public, and in the midst of the chaos the media was there to report on it all. Reports constantly changed as to what went on and frequently contradicted "official" statements. These are the reasons why the media's involvement in the Vietnam War was filled with misconceptions and controversy. / Master of Arts

Diametrically opposed forces, while independent, require the presence of the other to exist. Shadow is found through an absence of light. Earth exists as a result of the heavens, whether cosmologically or theologically. The following project explores dichotomies and the architectural elements that can span two disparate entities. The proposal for an embassy for Somalia strives to discover the threshold between the dualities of the Islamic faith and the profane environment. In the faith one must follow a path, whether physical or spiritual in order to find true enlightenment. By allowing the path of the thesis be the guide, the various elements of approach, entry, courtyard, garden and sacred spaces are illuminated as the thresholds between these diametrically opposed forces of public | private, heaven | earth, sacred | profane. / Master of Architecture