What is the opportunity afforded by a distinction in geography? Can a building respond to a threshold, or meeting point between two distinct geographical conditions? In particular, the duality of land and water and the moment when these two elements meet, could indicate and influence form and structure. What is a potential response to such a condition in geography, what are the mechanisms and means by which a building could respond to such a condition? This project seeks to highlight and celebrate the distinction between land and water, a meeting point where land ends and a river begins. The building's form, structure, and material are a reaction to the geographic condition. / Master of Architecture

Architecture has the unique ability to use its surroundings in a way that can create a profound impact; it has the power to generate emotion. To connect with the character of a place, we need to observe it, converse with it, and learn from it. No matter what the place, understanding its spirit is essential to design for it, because every addition to the place adds to its soul, its spiritual and emotional identity. It is important to note the first users of each site are what already exists, they define the spirit of the site and these users are not limited to just people, but rather they include the landscape as well. The trees that are growing and flourishing within the site are an important part of it. Architecture should look at the existing site and not take away from it but rather add to it. This thesis explores Daingerfield Island; Located along the existing Mt Vernon bicycle trail and the Potomac River, Daingerfield Island is an ideal location for a Bicycle and Water Taxi rest stop. It is a site that is mostly forested development, however, it is in a state of disrepair. It has great potential to become a wonderful pause space in the urban environment. The project explores emotions associated with resting and waiting, in hopes to prove that architecture has the ability to repair a damaged site. / Master of Architecture / Architecture not only affects those that inhabit it, but also its surroundings. Whenever we design a building, we need to understand that it is an addition to an already existing site; this addition should make the location better. Analyzing the site is essential in order to create an appropriate design for it. The thesis project is a Bicycle and Water Taxi rest stop located on Daingerfield Island, which is located along the existing Mt Vernon bicycle trail and the Potomac River. The design began with the sole intent of understanding the site; what its history is, what its present is, what its shortcomings are, what its strengths are, and what it needs. Only then did the architectural design begin.

Vattenburen kollektivtrafik tenderar att ha längre bytessträckor än buss och spårtrafik. Då långa byten kräver mer av resenären är uppsatsens syfte att undersöka hur bytet till och från pendelbåtar kan se ut vid en för trafiken större bytespunkt. Därigenom kanske vi kan lära oss mer om resenärens informationsbehov vid byten över längre avstånd. Därtill har målet varit att presentera rekommendationer som kan stärka förutsättningarna för vattenburen kollektivtrafik, med särskilt fokus på bryggan (angöringspunkten) vid Klara Mälarstrand och den närliggande järnvägsstationen Stockholm Central. Arbetet har utförts i form av en fallstudie som undersökte platsen utifrån upplevd närhet och -tydlighet, med empiri bestående av egentagna bilder, kartor, avståndsmätningar samt dokument. Datainsamlingen pågick under lång tid, parallellt med Trafiknämndens egna utredningar av trafik till och från bryggan. Analysen visade att bryggan vid Klara Mälarstrand är bristfälligt integrerad med omgivande kollektivtrafik och att en tydlig vägledning saknas. I diskussionen förs ett resonemang om vikten av att entréer till kollektivtrafiken, exemplifierat av pendeltågens nya station Stockholm City, synliggör sin funktion även på långt håll. Resenärer bör även ges möjlighet att relatera längre bytessträckor till en tidsåtgång, liknande den ’uppskattad gåtid till gate’ som används på storflygplatser som Köpenhamns flygplats Kastrup. / Public transport on water tend to have longer transfer paths than bus and rail transport. As long transfers paths demands more from the passenger this thesis aims to investigate what a transfer to and from water buses may look like at a transfer point with public transport on water of major importance for a planned service in Stockholm, Sweden. Through that more knowledge about the information needs of passengers at transfers over longer distances might be gained. In addition the thesis aims to present recommendations which can strengthen the conditions for public transport on water, with a focus on the stop (quay) near the Stockholm Central station. The thesis has been carried out as a case study which examined the study area on the basis of perceived proximity and -legibility,with empirics consisting of images taken by the author, maps, distance measurements and documents. Data collection time has been long, in parallel with the Stockholm County Administrations (SLL) own investigations of the traffic. The analysis showed that the quay at Klara Mälarstrand has a lacking integration with surrounding public transport and that a clear wayfinding is missing. In the discussion an argument for the importance of legible entrances to public transport also at a distance is made, exemplified by the new Stockholm City commuter train station building. Also passengers at longer transfer paths needs to be able to relate the distance with the time to get there, similar to the ‘approximate walking time to gate’ used at major airports such as Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup in Denmark.