| Summary: | Within the next decade an inter provincial trail, called the Trans Canada Trail, will be
developed to accommodate non-motorized traffic such as hikers, skiers, horsemen, and
cyclists. Anticipating the need for rest stop facilities, this thesis seeks to explore the
design potential of two isolated facilities. The focus of this exploration is the impact of
landscape on the development of architectural form.
While existing conditions found in each site were recorded and considered throughout the
design process, a conscious effort was also made to build a site rather than site plan
This position, first articulated by William Rees Morrish in his book Civilizing Terrain.
acknowledges that not every piece of land can become an urban place. Instead, placemaking
often requires willful acts of change in order to enhance or more effectively
reveal its existing qualities. This position opposes the current attitude fostered by the
environmental movement that all landscapes should remain untouched.
The two sites selected were both located in western Canada: one on the eastern shore of
Lake in southern British Columbia and the other in a farmer's field near Milk River in
southern Alberta.
This thesis traces the discoveries and attempts made to locate a center, develop an arrival
sequence and insert an architectural form into the experience of the landscape. Both sites
were explored simultaneously, reaching a similar level of resolution, at which point the
British Columbia site was dropped and the prairie site was developed further. The
Alberta site then became the developed body of the thesis. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of === Graduate
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