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THE INFINITE CANVAS: Perpetual Immersion of Sequential Narratives

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THE INFINITE CANVAS: Perpetual Immersion of Sequential Narratives ABSTRACT Title of Document: THE INFINITE CANVAS: Perpetual Immersion of Sequential Narratives Antonio Marco De Vittorio, Masters of Architecture, 2010 Directed By: Professor Brian Kelly, Architecture Department In the past century, comic books have been represented as the lowest of art forms.1 As time progressed, the comic book as a medium evolved and became increasingly popular. The depth of the characters and the stories they enclose within their covers immerse the reader in worlds that through other mediums could not be properly depicted and experienced. The scope of this thesis will be to design a museum to host comic book art by means of analyzing its development as a popular art form and its relationship to architecture. The mission of the museum is to create an immersive comic book experience, promote the understanding and appreciation of comic art as well as to detail and discuss its artistic, cultural, and historical impact upon society. The city of Baltimore was selected as the site for this proposal. The ample diversity and grandeur of its history and character render it with a degree of richness and uniqueness rarely found in other cities. The duality of the setting in terms of affluent areas vs. impoverished ones helps denote it as a live example of the duality represented in the cities inside the comics. &)01&#&! '%#05"&3#0#$)1 THE INFINITE CANVAS: PERPETUAL IMMERSION OF SEQUENTIAL NARRATIVES By Antonio Marco De Vittorio. Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Architecture 2010 Advisory Committee: Brian P. Kelly, Chair Luis Diego Quiros, Committee member Isaac S. Williams, Committee member © Copyright by Antonio Marco De Vittorio 2010 Dedication Questa Tesi racchiude in sé gran parte della mia vita, passata, presente e futura. Con orgoglio la dedico ai miei genitori, ed in particolare a mio Padre che mi ha guidato ed ispirato negli studi e nella vita, grazie Papà. ii Acknowledgements Thank you to my family and Gisela for your love and support. I would also like to thank my committee for their continued belief in this thesis. iii Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................... i Dedication..................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents......................................................................................................... iv List of Figures.............................................................................................................. vi Part 1: Understanding Comics.......................................................................................1 What Are Comics?.....................................................................................................1 Historical Significance...............................................................................................3 Why are Comics Important?......................................................................................6 Part 2: Relationship between Comics and Architecture ................................................7 Diegesis vs Extra-diegesis .........................................................................................8 Utopia vs Dystopia ..................................................................................................11 Comic Book Represention of Utopia vs Dystpia.....................................................14 Architectural Representation of Utopia vs Dystopia...............................................17 Part 3: City Selection – DC vs Baltimore....................................................................19 Site Location............................................................................................................26 Charles Street Corridor........................................................................................26 Charles North Neighborhood...............................................................................27 Site Description and Amenities ...............................................................................30 Baltimore .................................................................................................................34 Utopia vs Dystopia ..............................................................................................34 Site Conditions.....................................................................................................43 Zoning......................................................................................................................44 Part 4: Precedents ........................................................................................................52 Folk Art Museum – New York City........................................................................52 Caixa Galacia Foundation........................................................................................58 Burrell Collection – Glasgow, UK ..........................................................................60 Tower of Winds, Yokohama....................................................................................62 Villa Stein ................................................................................................................63 Part 5: Program............................................................................................................65 Program Description................................................................................................65 Part 6: Design Goals and Strategies.............................................................................69 Manipulating Space and Light for Comic Book Mediums......................................69 Manipulating Space to Create a Heightened Comic Book Experience ...................71 Preliminary Design Sketches...................................................................................78 Program Adjacencies Diagram................................................................................83 Program Design Schemes........................................................................................84 Building Core Design ..............................................................................................88 Design Inspiration....................................................................................................91 Part 7: Final Design .....................................................................................................98 Final Design Diagrams ............................................................................................98 Concept Sketch ....................................................................................................98 iv Ideal, Mundane, Underworld.............................................................................100 Program Diagram...............................................................................................103 Circulation Diagram ..........................................................................................104 Final Drawings.......................................................................................................106 Walkthrough Perspectives .....................................................................................112 Part 8: Conclusion......................................................................................................119 Final Section Perspective.......................................................................................121 Appendices ................................................................................................................122 Bibliography ..............................................................................................................123 v List of Figures Figure 1 - Illustration explaining The Infinite Canvas abstract (by author)..................2 Figure 2 - "The Rape of Proserpina" illustrated (by author)..........................................5 Figure 3 - Paul Citroen's "Metropolis" (Image source: Lost Buildings)......................12 Figure 4 – 46th St. Promenade looking South to the Gardner Overpass, by Anton Furst (image source: Jimmy Stamp online article) ...............................................................13 Figure 5 Superman’s Metropolis vs. Batman’s Gotham (Image source: DC Comics)15 Figure 6 - Action Comics #1 - First Comic Book (Image Source: DC comics)..........19 Figure 7 - City Selection Analysis (by author)............................................................22 Figure 8 Baltimore City (by author) ............................................................................23 Figure 9 - Three potential sites in Baltimore (by author) ............................................24 Figure 10 - Site Selection Matrix (by author)..............................................................25 Figure 11 Baltimore - Site is located in North Charles (by author).............................26 Figure 12 Charles Street Corridor Analysis and Amenities (by author) .....................28 Figure 13 – Site highlighted in yellow (by author)......................................................29
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