The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Architecture NEGOTIATING CONTESTED ZONES: A POST-TOURIST VISION OF FAMAGUSTA A Thesis in Architecture by Savia Palate 2014 Savia Palate Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Architecture May 2014 The thesis of Savia Palate was reviewed and approved* by the following: Jawaid Haider Professor of Architecture Thesis Advisor Darla Lindberg Professor of Architecture Daniel Cardoso Llach Assistant Professor of Architecture Alexandra Staub Associate Professor of Architecture Head of the Graduate Program *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii Abstract This thesis focuses on an emergent urbanism, one that negotiates the contradictory and seemingly incompatible environments of military and tourism as they are interpreted in Famagusta, Cyprus. The unique characteristics of Famagusta invite research into an alternative reading of urbanism: On one hand, it represents a so-called ghost town marked by an amalgamation of borders and boundaries, and on the other hand, the persistent image of a cosmopolitan tourist resort seems to be the only common story between the two contested communities. What are the spatial preconditions necessary to reshape resistant and tenacious environments into adaptable and negotiable zones? In exploring this question, this thesis hypothesizes that contested zones require the development of a framework for solutions given the situation’s uncertainty and the unpredictability of human behavior. This suggested design framework is based on a re-interpretation of Richard Sennett’s paradigm on the distinction between borders and boundaries. Space develops as an experimental device examining the effects of incremental changes, a relationship between action and reaction over time, rather than one fixed plan. This thesis was conducted through the layering of three main lenses: (1) the History Lens, which investigates the power of institutional decisions to form, organize, and control spaces; (2) the Border and Boundary Lens, which explores society’s paradoxical tendency to persistently preserve parts of history that cause feelings of hatred, processes of forced displacement, and spatial division; and (3) the Transgression Lens, which examines the way grassroots actors are inspired from the movements of tourists in space and adapt themselves to take advantage of conflict conditions. Tourism and the survival needs of grassroots actors come to soothe the predominant image of space as a conflict zone. Three case studies related to tourist operations a) the Viewpoints, b) the iv Tours, and c) the Palm Beach Hotel explicitly depict how before breaking the law, there are many shades of legality that architects should observe when leading themselves to creative design processes. This thesis develops a strategy for negotiating space to convert a spatial disadvantage into an advantage by unfolding creative forces hidden behind contested zones. The complex urban conditions of contested zones and fields of tension represent a microcosm of contemporary reality, where borders and boundaries are the inevitable nature of architecture. The insistence of architects to re-design borders in conflict spaces and other impoverished social conditions demands architects to take the role of a co- designer along with institutions and grassroots actors. v Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Why Famagusta? ............................................................................................................... 2 Conceptual Lenses: History, Borders and Boundaries, Transgressions...................... 7 Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................... 8 Research Question ............................................................................................................. 12 Definition of Concepts ...................................................................................................... 13 Research Methodology .................................................................................................... 16 Outcome .............................................................................................................................. 21 Chapter 2 Negotiating-Space Conceptual Framework .................................................... 22 Strategies and the History Lens ........................................................................................ 23 Edges: Borders and Boundaries Lens .............................................................................. 25 Tactics and the Transgression Lens ................................................................................. 27 Negotiating-Space: Richard Sennett Paradigm .......................................................... 29 Intellectual Merit ................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 3 History Lens ............................................................................................................... 36 The Institutional Actors ....................................................................................................... 37 A Chronological Timeline: Separation or Coexistence? ............................................. 40 Physical Institutional Lines.................................................................................................. 49 Varosha as a Bargaining Chip ......................................................................................... 57 Unresolveness: Unpredictability ....................................................................................... 58 Chapter 4 Border and Boundary Lens .................................................................................... 61 The Grassroots Actors ........................................................................................................ 63 Varosha: A Boundary or A Border? ................................................................................. 65 Deconstructing Boundaries .............................................................................................. 70 De-Labeling Identities: De-territorialization .................................................................... 71 Incompleteness: Ephemerality ........................................................................................ 78 Chapter 5 Transgression Lens ................................................................................................... 80 The Transgressive Actors: Tourists ..................................................................................... 82 Military Vs. Tourism .............................................................................................................. 83 Episodes of Adaptation..................................................................................................... 87 88 Episode of Adaptation 1: Varosha’s Viewpoints .......................................................... 88 vi Episode of Adaptation 2: Boat Trip ................................................................................. 96 Ambiguity: Heterogeneity ................................................................................................ 108 Chapter 6 Conclusions: The Architect’s Contribution ......................................................... 110 De-Labeling Space ............................................................................................................ 111 Broader Impact .................................................................................................................. 116 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 118 vii List of Figures Figure 1: Famagusta's Coastline .............................................................................................. 1 Figure 2: Map of Cyprus. The red dot shows Famagusta's location. ................................ 2 Figure 3: Conceptual Model of Reading Contested Zones ............................................... 11 Figure 4: Research Methodology Diagram ........................................................................... 16 Figure 5: Episodes of Adaptation -Viewpoints, Boat Trip, Palm Beach Hotel.................. 19 Figure 6: Strategies vs. Tactics .................................................................................................. 22 Figure 7: Interpretive Diagram of Richard Sennett's Paradigm ......................................... 31 Figure 8: Negotiating-Space Strategy Diagram ................................................................... 33 Figure 9: The Architect’s Contribution Diagram: Architecture needs to find the residence between the big and the small picture. ..................................................... 35 Figure 10: Prohibition Sing in