Landscapes of transformation

Abstract

This thesis aims to examine the cultural effect of transformation through the lens of procedural techniques applied to the human body and architecture. The body and architecture both operate as landscapes of transformation. Technological advancement has increasingly enabled cosmetic surgery and contemporary architectural techniques to encourage a cultural aesthetic of transformation. In both the human body and architecture, transformation offers a physical and psychological effect. As a cultural enterprise, how can architecture both benefit and contribute by engaging the cultural caprice of transformation? How can architectural procedural techniques define an urban project which engages the consumption of transformation? This thesis proposes a response to the cultural effect of transformation and is developed through the architectural process of testing procedural techniques. The thesis also responds to the notion of gradient as a residual witness of transformation, revealing the techniques by which the transformation was brought about. The first part of this thesis engages the idea that the human body is a landscape of transformation as cosmetic procedures continue to redefine the operation of its interiority. The second part of the thesis presents Central Park as a mechanical artifice and an operative site for the procedural techniques of transformation.