Altered experiences were explored in the design of an abstracted interpretation of a Japanese teahouse.
ALTERED: REALITY
Assigned with diagramming a ritual of importance, the route taken to the library was mapped and the experience of being transported to new worlds through reading was explored by means of artistic collage.
ALTERED: PERCEPTION
Tasked with creating an orthogonal vessel related to the word “desire,” consideration was give to its ephemeral qualities; specifically the effect of varying moods on the perception of the same desire. The pink cube represents my mind, inside of which is a thought about a desire. Once opened, the thought reveals two different haiku superimposed onto one another. With a pink colored lens, representative of rose-tinted glasses, a haiku of positive affirmation becomes visible; with a blue colored lens, representative of feelings of apprehension or fear, a haiku of discouraging warning is seen.
This is what I want,
and this is how I’ll get it,
Oh, don’t stop me now.
Sharks and spider here,
You think you can, but you can’t,
Turn around, go home.
acrylic, museum board
ALTERED: EXPERIENCE
The formal design of the teahouse was derived from the concept of entering a cloud. Initial perception of the space is one of solid-mass volumes, but these perceptions are challenged as you move through the exterior gardens to discover the structure is actually composed of intersecting voided spaces. Circulation occurs around the perimeter as you slowly move upward in a series of consecutive gardens, meant to represent traveling through and around the edge of a cloud, eventually moving into the nucleus of the formation.
High walls and subtle plant life create minimal outside sound, protection from the wind, and an environment of mild sensory deprivation in order to allow for introspection. Like moving through the varying densities of a cloud, intersecting planes and overhead conditions create an ever-changing play of light and shadow to allow for new discoveries of form and space.
Upon entering the final garden, a new understanding of time is possible as the sun acts on a single dead tree, forming a shadow that marks the passage of time as a metaphor for the temporal passage of thought.
In stark contrast to the gardens, as you descend into the teahouse you are confronted with a wholly different environment of color and light that plays off the concave walls of the space. Pink, orange and yellow, the colors of a cloud at sunset are meant to transport the mind and stimulate the imagination.
Wander through a cloud,
light and shadow form my thoughts,
new worlds are revealed.
exterior render
circulation diagram
elevation section
initial garden render
final garden render
interior teahouse render
isometric highlighting interior garden and teahouse
