Third Culture Kids and Storytelling throughout Culture.

The Middle East, Specifically the Arabian Gulf, has one of the world’s highest percentages of Third Culture Kids. Third Culture Kids are children raised in a country they are not native to. 

Many TCKs have a diminished sense of belonging and tend to have a lifelong emotional tug-of-war between their culture and individuality. The thesis entertains the idea of a ‘solution..’ Still, the proper solution is to embrace the newer third culture and understand that Globalization is unavoidable. Our job is to provide a space where a TCK can harmoniously live within their culture and country and created individuality.

In an interview with 7 TCKs

5 out of 7 said they did not feel like they belonged in their home country

6 out of 7 said they did not feel like they belonged in the country their parents raised them in

4 said they were taught most about their culture through their parents

3 said they learned most about their culture during visits to their home country

6 out of 7 said they learned about their culture during events or occasions

The site is nestled between Dubai Marina, The Palm Jumeirah and Barsha heights, close to Dubai Media City, within Knowledge park, an area of Dubai abundant in secondary and tertiary education institutes. This assures the abundance in TCK’s either coming to Dubai for study or have been born and raised in the UAE with no nativity. 

The starting point of the project is to provide a flexible space to have TCKs indulge and find a sense of peace and belonging to. Keeping the site within educational district allows easy access to the site with little to no hassle, encouraging use and entry.The goal is to introduce a free green space that allows ease of pedestrian movement, a space to host and express cultural traditions , rituals and stories, spaces for food, an area of academic refuge such as lectures, libraries, labs and workshops, as well as productivity areas such as office buildings and opportunities for retail. The purpose of the area is to expand curiosity and tolerance beyond the academic campus and integrate it on a larger, freer scale without a forced implementation.

It is crucial to note the relationship between tolerance, education and awareness within the community of TCKs as well as the ideaology of a perspective that comfortably accommodates to ease of change and flexibility of mindset.

The project's primary goal is to emulate an area that evokes a sense of freedom to express both the innate culture and the induced individuality of a TCK, allowing the expression of self in a multi-faceted facility. With functions such as galleries, theaters, Libraries, Restaurants, Lecture halls, and other areas that encourage bringing people from all walks of life together allow the creation of a judgment-free space, as the essential function and mentality are to enter with a mind that is open to learn and tolerate new ideas.

This thesis does not ignore the locals who live in the countries they are native to but encourages them to entertain a perspective they haven't had the obligation of enduring and for TCKs to apply the view of The Local into their everyday lives as an expat or immigrant in their induced homes.

Quotes/data/statistics/phenomena representing your theme from the thesis book

The UAE has a rich heritage, home to many cultural arts. UNESCO defines cultural art as "the symbolic meaning of artistic values that originate from cultural identity." The UAE has kept these cultural arts and traditions while millions of expats settled here for multiple years. Mesoudi and Whiten theorize that culture spreads through social mechanisms, 'imitation,' and teachings.  

The Dubai Statistics Center reports that as of 2021, over 91% of Dubai's population are non-locals. Each has its own deep, diverse, rich cultures and traditions. Over time, Heritage tends to become lost when living in a globalized city. UNESCO defines tangible Heritage as visible objects or skills such as monuments, clothes, tools, and buildings, among other things, and intangible Heritage as Cultures or Living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants. Examples include oral traditions such as greetings and social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.

Culture intends to be a mixture of Tangible and Intangible Heritage and an effort to preserve large-scale tribal customs.

As Expats have children in countries different than their hometowns, a new, third culture is developed. This generation of children is called "Third Culture Kids"; these are defined by Pollock and Van Renken in "Third Culture Kids: The experience of growing up among worlds" as children who are raised in a "neither/nor" world. It is neither entirely the world of their parents' culture (or cultures) nor the world of the other culture (or cultures) they are raised in.

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