Sacred Space
Posted by Melissa De Freitas | Posted in | Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2010
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I'm back, with a new design on hand. Probably one of the most interesting ones of the year thus far. The brief was to create a sacred space within the dense urban environment in Port Elizabeth central, Parliment Street.
My approach was to create a space that one can feel at peace, welcome, wanted and leave feeling completely fulfilled. To create a garden space within the dense urban environment where people, not only can visit for sacred reasons, but also a space where one can detach oneself from the urban lifestyle and be completely fulfilled within a green landscape that hides behind strong vertical planes.
My approach was to create a space that one can feel at peace, welcome, wanted and leave feeling completely fulfilled. To create a garden space within the dense urban environment where people, not only can visit for sacred reasons, but also a space where one can detach oneself from the urban lifestyle and be completely fulfilled within a green landscape that hides behind strong vertical planes.
Here is one of my final renderings. The use of pure geometry, allows the building to detach itself from nature but integrate itself through the use of natural materials in their pure state. The feeling within the structure is one that is ever changing, it is intierly dependable on the sun and the casting shadows of the natural drappings. It is highly unlikely that one will experience the same feeling twice, once entering this space, due to the fact that it is ever changing. An irrigation system has been incorporated into the steel braces to spray the green drappings three times a day, It may not be visible to the eye, but the glass box has been assembled at a slight angle to allow the water to run off it. Automatic louvers have been place both at the bottom and the top glass panes to allow for natural ventilation of the space.