Teal Sunshine: Experiences of Water

With the first year of school under my belt, I wanted to post my final project for the 502 studio. The first half the semester we did an urban design project (mixed use commercial/residential building on 14th and W Streets NW), and while I liked the project, our second project for the semester really resonated with me. We were given two potential sites on the Potomac River in DC, and were to design a boathouse. One of the sites was just west of the Key Bridge, an urban, compact area with a fast change of grade. I, however, landed the other site, west of Georgetown, with a gradual sloping terrain and more remote location.

This semester for my theory class, I did a ton of research on phenomenology and architecture, which snowballed into a great interest in perception. In fact, over Easter, I went to the Hirshhorn, and saw an exhibit of Josef Albers and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and was really inspired by their pure geometric forms and how they manipulated perception of said forms, which eventually would influence my decision to use multiple buildings of simple forms.

My concept began with the movement of water, fast versus slow, which translated itself into active versus restful programmatic areas. Using water to indicate path, my project explored circulation, and crossing thresholds into various levels of rest. The visitor to the boathouse would "enter" through the information center, and have different options along the path: either head straight down to the boathouse along the main path (the "fast" movement), or cross a water channel at various points along the way to experience the dwelling units, spa, community room or cafe (the "slow" experiences).

I spent much of my time working on the dwelling units. From crossing the threshold on the path, one would take a bridge along a pool that all of the units floated on. This larger body of water mimicked the canal and Potomac, indicating a slower, more restful zone of the project. Upon entry into a dwelling unit, the viewer would experience a linear continuation of water which raked down the sloping terrain. This experience of water was underlined by the rain shower created on axis with this flow of water - reiterating the idea of water and path.

My first experience with water color paper and water colors - a lot of fun, but a lot of work. Here is my site plan and a section of the site.

Plan of project. Entry is on the right, and as the visitor walks down the path, experiences the dwelling units, spa, and finally the community room and cafe walking towards the dock.