Preserving Place: Presenting Heritage with a New Sense of Youth

Abstract

The convergence of social media, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the nature of urban environments has led to a widespread sense of placelessness and isolation among individuals, both physically and emotionally. This predicament has effects at all levels, from the individual to the city as a whole. This thesis explores design of urban environments through the lens of a skateboarder by using the ability skateboarding has to create public space enriched with culture and community to address placelessness and isolation felt in urban communities brought on by generic design. Situating my project in St. John’s Newfoundland presents a challenge of finding avenues to seamlessly implement skateboarding to exist with a strong preestablished culture of heritage and tradition. This thesis proposes an architectural response that imbues heritage and culture with fresh perspective which encourages the gathering of people across all generations and fosters a renewed sense of community.