Merriman, Molly2013-04-052013-04-052013-04-05http://hdl.handle.net/10222/21455This thesis explores an architectural response for an urban site that incorporates the dismantled façade stones (spolia) of the site’s previous building into two dialectical devices: a ramp and a camera obscura. Each device allows the stones to act as both artifact (individual object with an embedded history) and frame (structure that invites a reading of its context). Spatial and temporal concepts from film provide theoretical guidance for the dialectical structure of the architectural design approach. A constant navigation between pairs of opposing forces (capturing/projecting, introvert/extrovert, operator/device, artifact/frame, object/subject) results in a pair of architectures, one a cinema + digital archive and the other a film school, between which a public space is activated as an outdoor amphitheatre. The two buildings simultaneously act as object (artifact) and subject (frame) in an attempt to locate and express a redefined historical continuity for the site.enspoliafaçadefilmHamiltonartifactframedialecticsThesis