ARCH 5601 – Comprehensive Design Studio
Instructor: Ben Shacklette - Texas Tech University College of Architecture
Project Scope: The project site is located on the grounds of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Our project goal was to design an "Observatory for Invisible Matters." We were to develop a research facility on an "Invisible Matter," i.e. Radiation, Global Warming, etc. The program was very basic, so we were given freedom to shape and mold the program to what we believed the project needed. I took it upon myself to add program elements that would bring the public out to the building, as well as the White Sands monument. Therefore, my project became a science museum with research facilities on site. We were also required to develop the project architecturally, as well as provide a Design Development level proposal for Structure and MEP.
Project Design: Our professors provided us a "muse" of a sphere to begin our projects design. My goal was to design a project that was materialistically true and complemented the site. I thought about what natural elements were sphere-like, and I came to the conclusion that Geodes would be my design inspiration.
Instructor: Ben Shacklette - Texas Tech University College of Architecture
Project Scope: The project site is located on the grounds of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Our project goal was to design an "Observatory for Invisible Matters." We were to develop a research facility on an "Invisible Matter," i.e. Radiation, Global Warming, etc. The program was very basic, so we were given freedom to shape and mold the program to what we believed the project needed. I took it upon myself to add program elements that would bring the public out to the building, as well as the White Sands monument. Therefore, my project became a science museum with research facilities on site. We were also required to develop the project architecturally, as well as provide a Design Development level proposal for Structure and MEP.
Project Design: Our professors provided us a "muse" of a sphere to begin our projects design. My goal was to design a project that was materialistically true and complemented the site. I thought about what natural elements were sphere-like, and I came to the conclusion that Geodes would be my design inspiration.
Studying the Geodes, I took basic principals of their composition. Hard, earthy exterior shells, with colorful, random arrangements of crystals and voids on the inside. I kept trying to maintain the spherical form, but structurally, and spatially it did not work. So I started looking into architecture that was built in the desert, as well as other spherical architectural projects.
The next step was to study structural systems and develop one for my project.
The next step after structure, was to determine what mechanical system would be the most effective for my project.
Once I was able to coordinate the design with structure and MEP as much as possible, I was able to work on interior materials and landscaping. In order to maintain a colorful spacious interior, I had to reference the geodes again, and I saw the wide range of colors that each and every geode had. I decided to use the color as a means of identification for each particular level of the facility, making it an easy wayfinding method.
