Enchanted Lumination

Pattern Perception

An Urban Landscape Pattern. This is the product of me beginning to learn how to use Photoshop. I am pretty pleased with the results for my initial little project. I am pumped to learn more about this program!

Spa in the Raw...

Sketch Model: Front

Section/Elevation and Reflected Ceiling Plan

Interior Perspective

Exterior Perspective

Plan View

This place to bathe has finally come full circle. I started out researching the Roman baths and attempted using their 3 main rooms as the basis behind my spa, upon more research I was really intrigued by the Native American sweat lodges. Not only did they use the sweat lodges as places to bathe, the Native Americans thought of their time inside the lodge as a time of purification, ridding themselves of all impurities to get back to the 'natural' self. My design took a turn in the direction. I wanted to create a place to bathe that was as raw as the Native American sweat lodges. The original lodges were all very low to the ground basic domed structures; made out of saplings and animal hides. In accordance to ADA requirements height had to be adjusted just enough for a wheelchair to enter the space. Over all the space is 7'-0" tall and 13'-0" wide. I enclosed the circle in the square to help with the requirements for users with disabilities and because I wanted the lodge to connect back to the original form. Instead of having a hole in the ground in the center of the space like the Native Americans, there is a 3'-0" tall shelf that is 8" wide circling around the space where the heated stones would be placed.
The exterior walls are concrete substrate with a stucco finish. The beams on the outside of the structure are oak. The interior walls are concrete substrate with a layer of applied stucco and the top half of the wall has teak wood panelling. The floor is a concrete slab with teak wood on top. and the ceiling piece is reinforced concrete, with double pane glass in the 4" gap between it and the oak posts.

Spa in the Raw...

In researching spas, places to bathe, and the different implications of bathing, a few things continued to repeat themselves. Bathing was a socially accepted public occurrence in most cultures. The bathhouse or baths were places for socialization and equality; everyone could take part no matter color, free or slave, and male or female. It was a time for relaxation and enjoying oneself. The cleansing that took part at the baths was looked at by most as an opportunity to clean and renew the body. Water was looked at as a source of healing. Many would soak in the water for 10-11 hours at a time in "special" springs or anointed baths because those water had been deemed worthy of certain healing powers.

Place to Dine: Transitions

The concept behind this dining space was Transitions or Transitioning. I started with the table. It is a 20' wood table, with inlaid wood triangles and as you progress down the table to the buffet the triangles get bigger and push up from the table to create a buffet or place to serve food from. The chair I chose to put with this table is a modernized version of the Rietveld Z chair in a white leather with chrome legs. The room reflects the reactions of the triangles pushing out. The walls tilt in and out creating a dynamic space. Due to the tilting of the walls, the ceiling intersects itself and creates breaks to allow natural light in the room. The ceiling at its highest is 13'. There are hanging lights from the ceiling casting light only on the table. The East elevation depicts the ay window created by the tilted walls. The walls and ceiling are concrete substrate with sheet rock applied and finished with paint. The floor is polished concrete.

Prelim Shelter Bus Sketch Up

Design Manifesto

Design is a different experience day to day, person to person, and individual to the whole.