The architecture of storytelling : children's shelter in Venice, California

Abstract

The thesis investigation began with my experience with storytelling. Verbal stories told to me as a child provided a form of cultural continuity. Stories were a way of transferring culture, ideas, religion, morals, and values. The moral of the story changed depending on who was the storyteller. My mother's and later my sister's stories changed depending on my age and my ability to understand. No matter the age, narrative acted as a connection to culture, places, and family. The thesis takes storytelling as an architectural agenda. This leads to the question, Can storytelling be experienced through architecture? The thesis explores the possibility of experiencing storytelling through physical form. The exploration focuses on the act of reading and recording of stories. Providing places for reading and recording is the starting point of the architectural investigation. The program used to explore these issues is a children's shelter in Venice, California. A shelter for children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse, and or neglect. The shelter is a place were storytelling can be re-introduced into the children's lives, since their parents or storytellers are no longer with them.