|
THE NEWARK INSTITUTE; Downtown Newark, NJ |
|
SYNCRETIC DESIGN IN THE PUBLIC REALM The Newark INSTITUTE is dedicated to attracting and cultivating forward-thinking endeavors that seek to enrich, diversify, and 'green' the city, leading to the next phase of the city's renaissance. The Institute will be located on Broad Street and will lead by example; it will be a versatile center for teaching, research, advocacy, conferences and public/private events. The new construct of approx. 4000 SF and its new large urban space confronts the process of landscape and nature as an integral component of building design. |
 Site Plan |
Site
on Broad Street: Looking East  |
 |
The
design for the institute focuses on a simple building structure with an
open plan to accommodate public and private functions. The First Floor
is composed of the open lobby space, the cafe, and the library. On the
Second Floor continues the library and administration office space.
Images below: First Floor and Second Floor Plans |
 |
 |
|
On the approach to the entrance of the Institute, a
visitor is presented with Exhibition Panels which have interactive displays
about the biodiversity existing in the Park beyond. The information on
the panels change as the seasons and vegetation change.
Biodiversity extended vertically onto these series of Exhibition Panels will serve as an educational tool to transform images and words into thoughts and experiences. Each
panel becomes movable and informative on all its surfaces. |
 Study model/montage exploring space in between the Exhibition Panels, as they close to form a solid wall and thus, the entrance wall of the Institute. |
 Early study of mobile Exhibition Panels on South façade of Institute |
 Final study model: Visitors traverse the Exhibition Panels before their destination to the Institute or the park. |
  |
 |
 |
|
(IMAGES - Top Left: Studies of biodiverse plots; Top Right: Precedent study; Image of Persian prayer rugs by Yann-Arthus Bertrand; Bottom: View walking down a path surrounded by plots of biodiversity.) Like
a Persian carpet protected with its borders, so rich yet volatile, yearning
for the echo of the harmonious celebration of the diversities of life,
this matter of biodiversity becomes a metaphor for human diversity. In
the heart of the underlying grid of landscape lies a set of multiple possibilities;
surely the people will create their own usage systems within this numeric
biodiversity, where the sum is greater than the parts, where there is
Unity, Within Multiplicity. |