New into old--building into/onto/around/alongside : a school for the arts in Boston's Theater District

Abstract

The premise of this thesis suggests that these empty and abandoned buildings lying in the heart of various historic districts in our cities be "collaged" together as part of a newer ensemble of spaces. It is proposed that the transformation of these buildings begins with a careful study of the existing underlying systems of order which governed their organization initially (and which may now serve to inform and provoke a more successful synthesis of new into old), continues with the metamorphosis of the buildings themselves, with the erosion of the strict boundaries which enclose them, and concludes with the establishment of large-scale connections of these structures to their surroundings. The vehicle through which this method will be examined is a school for the arts (drama, dance and music) located in Boston's historic theatre district, selected because a purely preservationist strategy for renewal here would not be appropriate. This approach aims to retain what is most significant of this district in terms of its spatial organization, historic character, and tradition, while bringing in those activities which will help to "weave" it back in to the present. The traces of the old will be reinforced by the intervention of the new, thereby establishing a palimpsest of time which captures and exhibits a rich integration of new and old together.