Resurrecting Stones Transforming Lives

Abstract

My Polish background and upbringing have had a profound influence on the way I look at architecture. Growing up I was always fascinated by the interplay of new things that were around me, dancing with the old objects and way of life that were still present. How can these two worlds co-exist? Does the rise of one signify the death of the other? My thesis project explores this dichotomy of old and new and how they interact with each other.

The site is near Dupont Circle in Northwest Washington DC. I thought it beautifully poetic the idea of a homeless shelter rising above the ruins of a burned out church. A place for spiritual salvation would now morph into a haven for corporeal redemption. The transformation the space demanded was basically cosmetic; it would remain a place for human beings to rediscover themselves. The lingering eminence of the space made me fall in love with it, and the possibility of what it could become, of what it could turn into, drove my desire.