EU Border Services Part 2 Project 2007 Pritesh Solanki Manchester School of Architecture Manchester | UK Thesis study / 1,000,000m3 / Cultural Centre1,000,000m3 is an interactive, cultural gateway sited on the border betweenSlovakia and Austria.The programme is informed by the contrasting economical, political and culturaleffects of the communist era between these two countries.The Slovakian half of the building aims to dispose of the country’s outdated,negative identity.In contrast, the Austrian half celebrates its economical, political and culturalstrengths.The cube form of the building lacks any apparent movement however, acontinuous ramp, re-enacting a boulevard, winds its way through the1,000,000m3 volume.The perforated cor-ten steel cladding represents the notion of the ‘impenetrable’iron curtain. Pritesh Solanki How does contemporary identity map onto place? An interesting feature of globalisation is the tendency for places to merge into a banal ‘defaultscape’ of typologically normalised built form. Pritesh’s thesis project transforms this notion of normalisation into a heroically scaled proposal to mark place and identity through a process of amplification and concentration of contemporary programme. Marking the borders of all EU member states, the 1000000m3 cube absorbs the detritus of the border and its hinterland. Responding to the cultural and legislative frameworks of the countries it unites, it celebrates cross border linkages and embodies the spirit of trans-european collaboration.