Pastiche as technique : inside an American palace

Abstract

This thesis investigates the potential of opportunistic borrowing and blatant reference -- a postmodern approach pioneered by architects like Michael Graves, Robert Venturi and Charles Jencks -- through a renovation that reinstates a movie palace into a 99 cent store in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Instead of concentrating on the facade like postmodern architecture of the past, however, this thesis turns these techniques inward, as a way of designing the interior of the building; using an aesthetic which encourages nostalgia, that, through historical reference, can endear a design to a community, mitigate programmatic dischord, and provide unusual formal qualities. To find this nostalgic beauty, this thesis will revisit antique typologies like that of the movie palace and nickelodeon, out-dated architectural techniques like poche and pastiche, and forgotten forms of ornament. Iconography and ornamentation, rather than being mere decoration, form a membrane which acts as a cultural interface to site the building in a strong, diverse, and ultimately stubborn community.