Approach by Kayak

How visitors traveling east by kayak along the Potomac River approach the meditation retreat.

Site Anaylsis

Theodore Roosevelt Island & the Surrounding Urban Context of Washington, DC.

Object of Light Made of Concrete

Concept of addition & subtraction of two materials to produce a unified structure. Casted butter into concrete, which was later removed after the curing process.

Model of Negative Space

3D-Printed representation of the hollow butter core for concrete casts.

Void Formation

Initial butter subtraction stack. Grouped at base for open ground plane while rotating the form up with each butter block addition. This created a swirling effect in the concrete cast and enabled the illusion of perceived taller height.

Interior Experience

Spatial gradient from a simple open ground plane to complex geometry towards the sky. The effect makes the structure seem taller than it actually is.

Looking Up

Illusion of perceived distance relative to actual height.

Full Section

Voids are carried through the entire structure for a complete form. Changing water levels create a dynamic interplay between the architecture and nature.

Section Cast

Half cast showing the interstitial space of connected voids. Shifting them enabled the designer to experiment with different interior space configurations.

Plan

Plan highlighting the simplicity of the meditation retreat as it meets the pedestrian plane with just four structural elements around a square void intersection.

Scale Shift 1

Photo exploration. Image series using 3D-printed figures and light to experiment shifting scales into the world inside different concrete castings.

Scale Shift 2

Scale Shift 3

Early Process

Scale Shift 4

Early Process

Scale Shift

First concrete cast using rigid insulation as subtraction material.