Meditation and Reflection

Looking into Project 2 I began conceptualizing about what I believed a spiritual place to be. I wanted to create a peaceful, secluded setting in which people would not be interrupted during meditation, reflection, or prayer. In doing so I decided that the meditation space would not have any windows, but instead receive natural lighting from above via light wells.

Upon designing I began to look into biomimetic precedents that could potentially be used with this idea and stumbled upon the window plant. It is a small plant species that grows in the desert. However half of the plant's body is submerged in the earth while only a finger-like pod sticks out from the ground. At the top of this pod the leaves of the plant are drawn back to reveal a transluscent film, or window, that the plant uses to gather light for photosynthesis. The light enters this window and down a series of liquid crystals that form a conical shape to the center of the pod in which photosynthesis then takes place.This directly related to my theme of light from above, however it also gave me the idea of building below grade as well. In doing so the meditation space will use natural thermal mass to deal with the changing weather conditions of the Mojave Desert. By submerging part of the structure, indoor temperature can be kept fairly regular during the changing seasons.

First Sketches

As I began to design the meditation space I decided to break the program into two seperate entities. The first being the entrance and circulation space. This space would have a light, airy tone and possibly be transparent or transluscent. The second would be the solid mass of the meditation chamber. In keeping with the idea of privacy and peace I did not want the space to have any exterior exposure. The two would ultimately contrast and compliment each other.

As I had a good sense of what I wanted to achieve I began looking into materials that I could use to achieve the design I wanted. Once again looking at biomimetic precedents I found the Living Rock Cactus.

The cactus, which grows in the deserts of Africa, uses a wrinkled skin to catch dust and sand that is blown around by gusts of wind. In doing so the cactus camouflages itself with the sand, giving it the appearance of a rock. This allows the rock cactus to survive as this technique is used to deceive predators. I want to use this idea to not camouflage the meditation space completely, but blend it in with the landscape, as over time more and more sand will be collected, making it seem as if the structure was made by nature and not man. To achieve this I began looking at the cactus skin and seeing how I could mimic its properties.

I began looking into corrugated steel and steel fins that could gather the sand, but neither of them really achieved that natural look or effect I was after. I began looking at other ways steel could be formed and how the cactus actually captures the sand and began to research wrinkled steel. This inevitably led me to wrinkled sheet metal.

The sheet metal would allow for sand and dust to settle upon it based on a completely randomized pattern, giving it a much more natural look. In addition to this I began thinking of the reflective properties the metal could have based on how much it is polished. It could be an interesting play with the light that bounces off of it and the sand that is collected by it.

Schematic Plans

Schematic Elevation

A 3D model and CAD drawings are currently being produced.

M. Defina