DESA1002 'Nine Quarter City' - <Alicia Vickers>

Abstract

Over the course of the semester I developed my original idea of a school or cafe/ restaurant in New York City to that of a church and surrounding public place. My initial idea for creating this public space and church was inspired by my research of New York, having never been there I had to look at images i.e. from Google earth and read about the city. I imagined it to be extremely dense, with buildings packed close together and very overwhelming. With this comes anonymity and congestion, It was my aim through my project to create a quiet and peaceful corner of the city by the lake where local office workers could congregate to help reduce the anonymity on the streets of New York. By creating a spacious and relaxing corner of the city it would be seen as luxurious in the city of New York. I also focused my design on the idea of scale - I did not want to create an immense church so I developed my idea of a church with a central element of my design, a tower which would be in scale with the rest of New York. As a public tower, people would visit and mount the tower and be able to view the city form all different angles with a glass bottomed floor. This would be an escape from the city, whilst taking in its breathtaking views. My church design is definitely a modern interpretation of a Catholic Church by placing the church tower in front of the church; it still remains connected to the main church through the two entrances which are opposite each other. My design also explores organic shapes by using half domes and a curved wall around the ambulatory to contrast from the sharp, angular shapes of the surrounding skyscrapers. Organic shapes are more soothing for the eye, as well as this by using curves it creates more space and light within the building itself which can be interpreted from my design. Overall, this summary identifies the key ideas I developed throughout the semester and I feel I explored them convincingly through my model and presentation.