Dreampool

Author

Xia LiFollow

Date of Award

Spring 6-1-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Architecture (MArch)

Department

Architecture

First Advisor

Rio Malcolm

Second Advisor

Pablo Castillo Luna

Third Advisor

Arron Tobey

Abstract

DREAMPOOL is a spatial experience of virtual architecture based on the public bathhouses of northern China during the 00s - 10s. It focuses on the significance of nostalgia and the connection between architectural space and the spiritual world. The dreampool began with my interest in Bathhouse and Dreamcore videos that were popularized on the Chinese internet during the pandemic.

Like every nostalgia trend emerging, such as steampunk, some young Chinese people are starting to miss their childhood life around the year 2000 at a time when they are losing their public space and socialization. Public bathhouses, as a collective memory of the Chinese genz generation, have become part of their dreamcore memory. People miss their childhood time with their families, the sauna and the sound of water, and the element of water itself.

Based on the aesthetics of Dreamcore and liminal space, Dreampool criticizes the "uneasiness" of liminal space caused by the highly convergent interiors of modern architecture, creating a refuge from reality, a virtual infinity in the fragmented reality of the modern public space. Dreampool presents the randomized journey in which deja vu rooms, warm unsafeness, and nostalgia for a particular experience consist of the process of self-finding. It ultimately answers a question, "Who am I and where am I from. "

Recommended Citation

Li, Xia, "Dreampool" (2024). Masters Theses. 1234.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1234

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.