Revealing and Exposing the City Behind the Symbol

Abstract

Washington, D.C. is a city that is designed to serve an entire nation; yet, as a result of this, its own history and people can seem to be lost in the shadow of the federal city. With an abundance of museums throughout the city, the museum that is needed, but no longer exists, is one for the District itself. This omissionleaves a tremendous gap in historical knowledge and no representation focused on the character of the city itself. How can we fulfill this need in a way that is unique to this specific city and would provide more than an exhibit by allowing people to be surrounded by and contribute to the accumulated evolution of their history? Adaptive reuse encourages the gradual unearthing of historical inspiration, which allows representation of existing and past local populations. For my thesis, I sought to fulfill this need by turning to the existing fabric of the city, learning from it, and eventually employing adaptive reuse techniques to unify the existing framework with the new program.