Design Inspirations

In terms of the form, I’m very inspired by Richard Serra’s sculptures (one of which is on campus outside the Cantor Museum, shown in the photo above). I really love how the compositions of Serra’s sculptures guide viewers through intentional pathways while establishing both large central spaces as well as smaller, more discrete spaces, two aspects I want to incorporate into my building design.

Similarly, I’m inspired by the spiral structure of the Guggenheim Museum, and I want to employ a cyclical structure in my design to guide viewers through the exhibition center in an intuitive way. However, while the Guggenheim uses a vertical spiral structure, in which there’s really only one way to navigate the space, I envision my design as a more sprawling structure with a number of established pathways, providing some agency to visitors while retaining a level of intentionality to the composition of the space. Like in Serra’s sculptures, I love how this composition allows for a mix of different spaces, which can accommodate different types of exhibits and spaces for learning and interaction.

The Yabuli Entrepreneurs’ Congress Center is also an inspiration in terms of its open-air, organic interior design, as well as the way its exterior integrates color and forms from the site’s environment - while I don’t expect to design something resembling a snowy mountain

In terms of specific features, I’m inspired by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP’s “Library of the Earth,” which is almost entirely submerged into the surrounding landscape, using the slope of the site to determine ceiling heights in the different sections of the library. I don’t plan on creating an entirely underground design like this library, but I do want my structure to be informed by the site’s topography, and to use vegetation and green spaces to blend the structure into the surrounding environment.

Big Design Ideas

I want to produce a design that blends seamlessly with the surrounding environment of the project site. This includes creating a structure that mimics the surrounding topography through organic forms and ceiling heights, echoes colors and textures from the surrounding environment in the building materials (particularly the facade materials), and incorporates native plants into the vegetation used on the roof and in the atrium. I envision the primary 2-3 level structure to have a rough spiral form for the main exhibition space and a central open-air atrium with access to the green roof, and two connected structures containing smaller learning spaces with forms dictated by the site’s topography.

Some (very rough) preliminary sketches with some of my main ideas:

Innovative Building / System Features

• Strategic building orientation (to maximize solar exposure during winter months and minimize solar exposure during summer months)
• Natural daylighting and ventilation
• Passive heating/cooling
• Central, open-air atrium
• Living roof/green roof
• Solar panels and rainwater harvesting on the roof