An environmental summer camp : a study of "place"

An architect's ability to make place is, perhaps, the most fundamental element of his work. This is the one characteristic that sets him apart from engineers, contractors, etc. It is this enhancement of the quality of life by way of an appropriate expression of place that separates architecture from "shelter". New York City is not Effingham, Illinois, just as your own bedroom is not a city park. The furnishings in and around these prescribed areas are different to reflect the activity, climate, user, etc. of the place. Similar in that sense, architecture should also have everything to do with its own "sense of place"; it should reflect and complement its context.An environmental summer camp and visitor/educational center became the vehicle for my thesis, "a study of place". The camp was to serve as a setting for educational programs in a community/campus setting in an effort to increase environmental awareness among campers and visitors. The camp was to be established to house up to thirty children for a one to two week long period and would provide a visitor/learning center for both day and night activities for the campers and other guests. The camp will be located south of Effingham, Illinois on a site engulfing a manmade lake and preserved by the Illinois Department of Conservation and the Illinois Disciples of Christ. The effort put forth by the Disciple of Christ to preserve this site is reminiscent of the hard work ethic and pride found all around this rural community.As a result of a study of place, I hope to better understand human comfort needs at societal and individual levels within the built environment. I anticipate a better understanding of the community in which I grew up, both environmentally and culturally. In combination with these investigations, I aim to study other successful places in an effort to begin to establish a basis or criteria for culturally-specific placemaking. It is through these and other studies that I hope to define or establish successful placemaking in Effingham, Illinois, an environmental summer camp and visitor/educational center.College of Architecture and PlanningThesis (B. Arch.