Master of Architecture thesis
The architectural object is concerned with its image. However, as Yves Alain Bois notes, the flatness of the photograph “denies the real content of the work.” This thesis unpacks the collapse of object and image by exploring the relationship between the path and the object: the path offers an experience not simply a view. In the emerging mega-city of Manila, malls are ever-present entities. Mainly for the upper class, they form an episodic network, where seeing and being seen is as important as shopping. By combining a series of theaters with the Filipino reliance on shopping centers, a new typology is formed: the PERFORMANCE MALL. Adapting Garnier, Scharoun, and the mall, this project establishes space for the few and the many simultaneously. The motion within the theater complex creates a continuous spectacle of performance and circulation. Rather than separation of circulation and performance, they exist in a symbiotic state.