Nan Hang Zhang

We have made monsters of ourselves and of each other. The Other, that embodiment of difference, has been constructed, subjugated, exploited, erased, and constructed again and again; over and over. Our simultaneous fascination and fear of monsters across time and culture reflects a deeper fixation and anxiety about the Other. But the monster always escapes. Mythologies reconfigure themselves, and today, we see the Other in our polarised socio-political climate – in every protest, every news broadcast, and every election. Through the exploration of the design of an arts centre, this thesis aims to examine how the processes underlying such divisions – processes that essentialise, naturalise, and monsterise – manifest in our built environment.