Adapting the Ki'tla Center: Safeguarding Intangible Heritage through the Adaptive Reuse of a Former Lumber Mill

Abstract

At the intersection of the Olympic Loop Highway, also known as Highway 101, and La Push Road, the main vehicular route to the Quileute ancestral village of La Push, sits a sprinkling of buildings amidst nine-acres of flat, clear-cut land. Among rectilinear building forms and prefabricated sheds, a massive 120-foot-in-diameter Round Building sits strikingly within the center of the former industrial site. Purchased nearly a decade ago by the Quileute Tribe, efforts have already been carried out to adaptively reuse the buildings for a variety of commercial uses. This thesis aims to further strengthen the intangible heritage of the Quileute by designing a campus to better fit the pedestrian scale, proposing new building fabric to serve additional program, all with a focus on the Round Building as an anchor for users. The Round Building will seasonally host workshops and other smaller group activities, as well as occasional larger group gatherings ranging from sacred ceremonies to business symposia. The campus will serve as a touchstone for both local artisans and visitors to explore the importance of handicraft, language, and ritual as a means of maintaining cultural ties to both people and the flora and fauna native to the Olympic Peninsula.