Spencer's Island is Not a Ghost Town : A Cultural Institution in a Post-Industrial Community

Abstract

Rural communities are often neglected in contemporary architectural research which traditionally studies urban issues. This thesis, framed by an ongoing collaborative design/build project in Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, confronts the problem of depopulation and economic stability in post-industrial remote communities. By tapping into the energetic amateur historian community and developing a body of related representational work, I attempt to translate nostalgia into an architectural language used in the design of an Arts Centre. The proposed Arts Centre uses the industrial model of the region's past as inspiration and the present-day involvement of Dalhousie School of Architecture to realize aspects of its construction in design/build labs. A programmatic component of the project, a film and music festival, is introduced and begins to clarify a new direction for the community.