This studio aimed to explore the concept of “part and whole” with the creation of pavilion-like structures located in the university’s arboretum, serving as new visitor centers. The intention was to allow first-year students to experiment with form, part-to-whole relationships, software capabilities, and visual representation methods.

Through this design, the goal is to convey the connection between nature and structure. The idea throughout the process was to create a habitable space that would have the effect as if one was standing under a forest of tall trees, allowing, as the sunlight pushes through the lattice of leaves, the creation of patterns of light and shadow that move and change with the rising and setting of the sun. The general form of the structure from the exterior is meant to emulate the landscape of Kentucky, with its smooth, flowing slight hills and dips. Specific natural occurrences were used to inform the design, such as the delicate webbing of a dead autumn leaf as the woven pattern, and the entry hall being formed after the shape of a fallen tree that had been hollowed out by termites in its natural cycle. Essentially taking patterns present in nature, breaking them apart, and rearranging them into an occupiable space. The form itself was made to be generally homogeneous, such as a bird’s nest, with only a few systems creating the whole. In that way, the spaces flow into one another, with little division, just enough to be separate in use but still connected. The program consists of an amphitheater performance space, a café space, main entry hall, and an upper-level nature observatory.

The process of creating the arboretum pavilion began with several digital and physical experiments with aggregated geometries to form structure and habitable space. Many digital models, foam sketch models, and 2D drawn experiments were used to explore possibilities in part-and-whole relationships. (Images below)

These were a part of a long process of discovering how to draw sunlight through to create different shadow patterns while creating a structural system and occupiable space as a single gesture. The foam model series (‘Mantis’ model) were structural and evocative but not habitable. The top two were digital experiments that created vibrant lighting effects but were not optimally structural. The drawing process helped to generate ideas about layering and weaving, which led to initial iterations of the pavilion being sheet-like flowing forms woven out of various materials.

Students were assigned a designer to study and draw inspiration from, mine being Gilles Retsin. After studying his work, I created several model experiments which drew upon his ideas of aggregated geometries. These pursuits informed our final pavilion designs.