Spatial Agencies: Superimposing Media and Architecture in Public Space

Abstract

This thesis reconsiders several major urban elements in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It focuses on the original town square (the Grand Parade) and the adjacent main street (Barrington Street) that runs along the Peninsula. It seeks to reestablish the symbolic arrival into and departure from the city. The architecture obtains an alternative partnership with the personal mobile device to construct a new city narrative. Re-imagining both gateway and central square of Halifax, the virtual space of a social media application is overlaid onto the physical space of Barrington Street and Grand Parade. Citizens of Halifax are renewed as agents within the social and political aspirations of the city. Fabricated characters negotiate Halifax’s virtual and physical identity. In redefining Barrington Street, the design focuses on implementing a Wi-Fi corridor, a city app, and two new city gates, as well as a reconstruction of the central public square and adjacent facade.