Street of rock'n'roll dreams : the story of a pop music school for Washington, D.C.

Abstract

The thesis tests the assumption that a building is not an isolated occurrence, but is integral with the ongoing scene from which it emerges. The design was developed with a constant sense of its context, both built and sociological: people effect and are affected by a building's existence. The building is a facility for the enhancement of lives as they are lived, and of the city as its fabric finds its way into and through its buildings. Far from demarcating a sacred precinct, the building is more like a net which undulates with the flow of the city and its life, but lets that life pass through with only the remembrance of what has been experienced. Consistent with this philosophy, the thesis is presented in a story format which views the building as continuous with the people, context, and mores from which it emerges. The scene focuses on Adams Morgan, specifically Columbia Road NW, its main street. We see it through the eyes of of three characters whose lives become entwined through the creation of a new school of popular music there. The story of the characters, related in comics format, tells of the genesis and realization of the Whynot School of Contempo Music, an institution whose campus finally be comes the street. In the telling we are reminded of the significance of pop iconography and the sights, sounds, and feel of Rockitecture.