Presidential Library as a Refuge
Architecture | Nature, Immersion, and Supporting Spaces
Architecture | Nature, Immersion, and Supporting Spaces
Medora, USA
Published in Retrospecta 45 : Yale School of Architecture 2021-22
Published in Retrospecta 45 : Yale School of Architecture 2021-22
This project is an architectural investigation on the idea of how the presidential library can be a site of refuge. Although Theodore Roosevelt was always framed as a strong figure, within him, also existed a pain that he did not physically express, but showed in action. On Feb. 14, 1884, he wrote in his diary, “The light has gone out of my life,” under a bold “X.” He writes softly in cursive but the “X” he drew was probably the darkest and thickest line he had drawn in his whole diary. Dealing with two deaths, the death of his mother and the death of his wife, he fled to Medora. He fled from the location he grew up, where he had a palimpsest of memories. It probably was unbearable to exist in the location that the deaths occurred. Moreover, it must had been hard for him to act upon the routinely regular life, with a part of him missing. Fleeing all the darkness and taking refuge in Medora was probably the best way he could start to breathe, as he emotionally and mentally regained himself. Medora was a refuge and also a new light for Theodore Roosevelt. Medora was a place of refuge that gave back warmth. The cowboy lifestyle that TR lived in Medora was rooted in nature. The sound of the trees he heard while riding his horse, the river stream next to his house, the excitement of adventuring to new places to hunt, cattle ranching in his ranch, the sun that greeted him in the morning, the harsh winter that he strongly endured, the meeting of small neighboring people in town. A busy life, A simple life... No wonder conservation meant so much for him, as nature brought back light. Medora had given flames back to TR so he could go back and light up his darkness back at home. This project reflects on these ideas. To design a building that embodies these emotions. The project highlights the place of Medora and uplifts it as a site of refuge as Theodore Roosevelt may have experienced it.
Refuge:
Shelter or protection from danger, assistance in distress Etymology of refuge: “re” which means back and “fugere” which means to flee. Flee is rooted in “pheugein” which holds the meaning to escape. To escape or flee from the space.
Refuge is to escape or flee from the space you are in. Through the act of displacement one can find a place to heal.
A place for empowerment.
Shelter or protection from danger, assistance in distress Etymology of refuge: “re” which means back and “fugere” which means to flee. Flee is rooted in “pheugein” which holds the meaning to escape. To escape or flee from the space.
Refuge is to escape or flee from the space you are in. Through the act of displacement one can find a place to heal.
A place for empowerment.
Immersive Space
Immersive Spaces are spaces that are primarily visited by visitors. These are spaces designed to immerse into experience. To feel rather than to understand. Through amplifying different senses at different moments of the experience, the architecture opens the viewer to feel nature rather than understand nature. As the visitors walk down a ramp, visit a courtyard, see the valleys beyond, one of the five senses are heighten by blurring the use of the other senses. It is to get away from our visual understanding. It is to open all senses to feel the world. In the same manner T.R. did when he came to visit Medora.
It is to listen to an emotional story of Theodore Roosevelt.
Immersive Spaces are spaces that are primarily visited by visitors. These are spaces designed to immerse into experience. To feel rather than to understand. Through amplifying different senses at different moments of the experience, the architecture opens the viewer to feel nature rather than understand nature. As the visitors walk down a ramp, visit a courtyard, see the valleys beyond, one of the five senses are heighten by blurring the use of the other senses. It is to get away from our visual understanding. It is to open all senses to feel the world. In the same manner T.R. did when he came to visit Medora.
It is to listen to an emotional story of Theodore Roosevelt.
Conservation Museum
Conservation Museum is the last space before ending the immersive experience. The walls of this space are made with imprinted 3D scans of the trees around the site. They are a reflection of the nature trees, however, are rearranged through panelization to suggest their relationship yet not mimic the existing context. Most of the space is muted calmly with smooth concrete walls. However, once the visitor steps up on the platform they realize the salvaged wood floor pattern, the roof that bellies down, and light that comes through the carefully crafted slit between the roof and the walls.
Conservation Museum is the last space before ending the immersive experience. The walls of this space are made with imprinted 3D scans of the trees around the site. They are a reflection of the nature trees, however, are rearranged through panelization to suggest their relationship yet not mimic the existing context. Most of the space is muted calmly with smooth concrete walls. However, once the visitor steps up on the platform they realize the salvaged wood floor pattern, the roof that bellies down, and light that comes through the carefully crafted slit between the roof and the walls.
Supportive Space
Supportive Spaces are spaces used by employees for or within the proposed presidential library. Programs include: Presidential Library Office, Library, Cafe, Stewardship, and US Department of Interior. These spaces are not designed with emphasis on the experience of traveling but, through emphasis on arriving upon a destination and the opportunity that occurs thereafter. The courtyard as an architectural typology was used to create relations between different programs. Different scales of courtyards are placed throughout the architecture to create experiences between programs.
It is a place to share and relate to one another.