Seeking a Place: A Hostel in Seattle

Abstract

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2013This thesis investigates the hostel as a place that is about allowing travelers to form a community of their own while bringing the city into the hostel. The intent to design a hostel in Seattle comes from reflections of the desire to travel, the movement of travel and how travel accommodation plays a role in the experience of a new place for the traveler. The importance of travel in today's culture surrounds us, reinforced through popular culture, literature and story-telling. The desire to go moves people to leave their homes and wander; people like to travel. Travel does not just encompass visiting foreign lands and taking a few pictures, but is about adventure and interaction. Part of traveling is about interaction, experience, adventure and rest. These four priorities for the traveler become part of the focus of this thesis. The other part, is creating a place that allows travelers to Seattle to engage with locals of Seattle. Travelers and locals can be separate in a city, moving in parallel paths while rarely engaging with each other. In this thesis, I explore a hostel as a place where these two groups of people can meet and engage during a moment of their travels and where the priorities of a traveler, interaction, experience, adventure and rest, can be met