The end of the times : a proposition for transitional journalistic architecture

Abstract

This thesis proposes a new civic building type for journalism, playing out a scenario in which the production and maintenance of an archival record has become the primary function of the post-corporate professional journalistic organization. The architectural proposal originates in a broader inquiry, asking: when culturally significant building types approach categorical obsolescence, how can architects formulate new, more relevant types to replace them? Specifically, the thesis addresses the impending obsolescence of the newspaper headquarters building type through two complementary strategies. First, the thesis is founded upon a systematic study of architecture's long-term engagement with the newspaper industry. Simultaneously, it seeks opportunities for architecture within the contemporary discourse surrounding professional journalism and news media. Enabling narratives derived from these concomitant investigations are subsequently utilized as bases for the development of a conjectural civic + industrial + archival hybrid building type.