The Permanent Hotel : A machine-made landscape with a man-made culture

Sammanfattning: Architecture should strive to become an architectural prototype that brings forth collective value and culture through community cohesion, bringing together different groups of people and cultures. Thus, preventing the dilemma of gaps between the different interests, the reason for divided communities.  An inherited dilemma in a region characterised by the resource it produces is how one relates to the place and what social, economic, and political interests colour or stain the territory. It becomes a question of exploitation and displacement. The seasonal worker finds himself in a Fly in Fly out relation to his work while his family and private life are put on hold elsewhere. Simultaneously, permanent residents often feel exploited and that the culture comes second.  A territorial dynamic is defined by its inherited duality of interests that could be described as nothing short of opposites. On the one hand, the agenda is driven by the extraction of resources and, on the other hand, the sense of belonging and displaced identities in a town that depends on its industry. Moreover, the temporality of the industry and the permanency of the people in the region make for a dynamic that constantly renews itself. Where does the seasonal worker position himself in this setting, as he is not the one that is forced to move from his home nor the reason for the transformation of the territory?  The written thesis explores the possibilities for the concept of a non-place and anthropological place to emerge. It allows the architectural prototype to become a surrogate for an architecture that nourishes and fosters a stronger sense of belonging.  The architectural proposal applies accumulated knowledge and methodologies to make a new domestic prototype. A domestic model that serves the seasonal workers and temporary dwellers by carefully choreographing social interactions using the public living room as a spatial apparatus to achieve a sense of homeliness. The prototype is referred to as the Permanent hotel.