The North Cascades Highway: Redefining the Rest Area as a Cultural Landscape

Abstract

The Safety Rest Area program was created in conjunction with the development of the Interstate Highway System of the 1950s to provide the basic amenities for tired motorists. The objective of the Safety Rest Area program was to serve as a stand-in for the regional context drivers would otherwise miss as they bypass cities and towns. The analysis of this typology in Washington State shows that many Safety Rest Areas lack the distinctive local identity and responsiveness to the site intended by the program. The North Cascades National Park offers a site with an interesting cultural background and seasonal changes. This thesis proposes a strategy of multiple interventions on the site, each disengaging from the road slightly more than the next. These interventions explore new programmatic elements marking place and expanding the notion of the traditional rest area.