Locomotion : a railroad museum for Chattanooga

Abstract

This thesis is about exploring an architecture that serves a dual purpose: one, as witness to the past, and, two, as evidence of a constantly changing built environment. It is about exploring a landscape rich with associative memories. Through the design of a railroad museum on abandoned railroad lines in Chattanooga, Tennessee, this thesis seeks to define an architecture that is integrated with the industrial landscape in an interdependent relationship. Using the museum as a design mechanism, the intention is to evoke memories of the past through the present architectural experience.