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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/84853 |
| Date | 17 August 2018 |
| Creators | Kim, Olivia Angeline |
| Contributors | Architecture, Emmons, Paul F., Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C., La Coe, Jodi Lynn |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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