Modern Vernacular: Arts Link Education Center and Gallery in Asheville, NC

Abstract

This thesis explores how the poetry of place can be written in architecture by exploring how an urban environment engages its ecology. Asheville, NC, a small city in the heart of the southern Appalachian Mountains, has the opportunity to reclaim a historic industrial zone that is nearly abandoned. The area under study is in poor condition not only because of societal changes, but also because nature, in this case the French Broad River, is frequently in conflict with the human community. Asheville's citizens are sensitive to their environment, ecology, and history. That culture is best and most famously expressed by musicians, painters, sculptors, poets, and novelists who have lived there. The site is a neighborhood rich in history relating to the river, the community, and industries located at its edge. A new arts center located here serves to bring together the greater community with the artists already living here. The structure embodies and reflects upon the ideals and values of the culture while demonstrating sustainable building practices.