SEEING DOUBLE; HOME IS...

Abstract

Seeing Double is a conceptual lens through which this project has analyzed the notion of home and community in Ballard, Washington. This research endeavor was brought about by testing how the human eyes' multiple loci and our brain, juxtapose or confuse images when the two eyes see different views. With a background in optics and optical devices, this examination asked what it means to See Double in a social and architectural context. The idea of home place is not a singular entity, but a complex accumulation of histories, narratives, and presences. Seeing Double invites us to look beyond what is immediately visible in the streets, buildings, and infrastructure, and instead uncover the deep palimpsest of histories that have shaped--and continue to shape—the land and geologies of place. The palimpsest of Ballard includes the geological past surrounding Salmon Bay, the salt marshlands and former creeks, which have long since been transformed into concrete dockyards and industrial zones. It includes the legacy of colonialism that forcibly displaced Indigenous peoples--most notably the Duwamish and other Coast Salish tribes--whose intimate relationship with the land and water contrasts with the colonial capitalist systems; systems which brought with them the Ballard Locks, boat docks, shingle mills, and railroads which completely changed the landscape of the region forever. From a cultural standpoint, Seeing Double became a moral imperative. It is about seeing a city not only as it appears today but through the eyes of those who are foreign, displaced, or forgotten. It is about seeing former home sites and cultures overlaid upon the present-day Ballard to create a place that can feel familiar and allow reclamation of a home place.