Scenes from Suburbia: Unreal Strategies for Real Change
Thesis - Third Year Masters
January 2016
The suburbs make obvious pressing dilemmas about architecture, urbanism, and social class. Due to repetitive housing designs, emphasis towards the automobile, and limited public amenities, the suburban landscape suffers from monotony and disconnection. However, as the demographics of the suburbs begin to change, there is an opportunity to profoundly redefine and expose the suburban ideal to a much greater range of domestic practices and lifestyles.
Scenes from Suburbia: Unreal Strategies for Real Change reimagines the suburbs as a "landscape of dreams" in order to develop an alternate vision - for intrinsically the suburbs are tied to dreams of homeownership and community. Illustrations and short narratives informed by surrealism and speculative imagination provide the tools through which to investigate possible new futures for the paradigmatic suburb. In a realm between practicality and fantastical vision, these depictions strive to reveal the suburbs' latent potential to become relational landscapes providing dwellers with orientation in the world, and a sense of connection to community, city, and environment. Reimagining the suburbs infuses everyday life for suburban residents with delight and surprise.
