All in all I am pretty pleased with my model. I wish I could go back and laser cut/score some of the missing elements into it because the judges thought it looked like a chapel and I feel these elements (doors, windows) would make the building look more open and less like a coffin. Unfortunately I'll be busy with finals and other projects until I leave...I agree that in plan it looks a little like a coffin but I hoped the changes in elevation would detract from that idea. I agree that the side chapel should be doing something different in terms of its roof to separate it from the chapel it is attached to. If I were to redo my initial concept and could bend some of the design rules I would have my column path lead to both the chapel and the side chapel and de-emphasize the entrance. I don't feel that the entrance is awkward though and I also like what I have going on now with the entrance-garden-chapel path.

Overall though I am pretty pleased with my model. I feel hierarchy is really present and to me the design really speaks out that it is a chapel. I like what I have going on with my lighting effect although in advertising I should advertise more than the one special day a year. I think everyday the chapel is special because the "stars" from the ceiling do move around during the day which is interesting in itself (even when the glass "trees" don't capture the light). Still, I think the momentous one day a year event that happens with the glass is important and I would not take it out.

This was a really rewarding project and I am really happy with my results. Pictures are attached to my blogpost below.

Thanks Glenn and Patti for a great quarter. I feel like I've grown a lot!

These are some pictures of my lighting effect.

I just finished my ¼ scale model of my chapel. At the beginning of the project the chapel was 5 distinct buildings that were a good distance away from each other. Then I tried to brainstorm what made me think “holiness” and the image I came up with was something natural—a flower. I liked this idea on the outside but it made the insides of buildings impractical. I kept the idea of glass stamens from the flower idea but kept moving forward. My final model alludes to a connection between space an earth. The roof represents space and the out of this world (perhaps the divine) and the inside represents earth. Once a year, the son is at the perfect angle to the chapel and lights up the glass “trees” in the chapel. At other times, some of the trees are lit up. When the sun lights up all the glass on the inside of the chapel it represents a connection to the divine. My beloved detail is a dip in the alter in a circular shape that catches the light from the biggest whole in the ceiling and lights up the area the speaker is standing. My inspiration came from Eero Saarinen and specifically his MIT chapel. I really enjoyed the way he captured light and tried to do something interesting with the light I brought into the chapel as well. I ran into some obstacles after the laser cutter broke but ultimately I really enjoyed the project.

Here are some pictures of the phases my project went through

Here is the final 1/4 model.

Hey guys,
I've finally settled with a final floor plan. Now, I'm currently trying to finalize my designs for a ceiling with expressive lighting. I've been exploring triangular light wells and I really like the kind of light they let in. However, I'm having quite a bit of trouble trying to envision what I want out of them, i.e., how I would want these shapes to interact with the rest of the chapel. They're such great, unique shapes but however I arrange them, I somehow feel like it's too messy.

So, for a moment, a scrapped the light wells. Tired, frustrated, and immensely hungry I meant to walk it out in the studio but when I found a thick piece of acrylic from the laser cutting class. I took some triangles I cut out from my botched experiments and stuck them on the acetate as if I had triangular blocks surrounded by glass in the ceiling. I put that on my chapel and took it to the photographer's light. Of all the iterations that night, this was by far the most interesting. The triangles and the illuminated spaces between them (thin lines) created this interesting patter on the front right corner. It's interesting and complex and I am tempted to move on and take the serendipitous ceiling but the only thing holding me back is the nagging question--is this too crazily irreverent for a sacred space?

On other matters, models are in process. Ceiling, of course, will come last.

I'm sorry this post does not have a picture of the expressive light. My phone camera is not capturing it well. But one will come up most likely today.

Chapel Floor Plan Progress

The floor plan for the chapel i came up with was originally a campus like orientation where the buildings were centered around a triangular open space that pointed towards the zen view closer to the ocean.







From there, I tried to consolidate the floor plan so that the buildings would be more integrated into each other. There would still be two components that would stand away from each other; the office and the zen view. This was to provide more privacy for the function of those spaces. The side chapel and the lobby would be attached to the main chapel. The office would be detached to the right marking the perimeter lines of the main building, and the zen view would remain near the "cliff like" part of the area.




Lastly, in trying to consolidate the form further the office space would be integrated into the main building. This was primarily done to simplify the forms and shapes of the buildings surrounding the main chapel, and making sure that the main chapel remains the main focus as one enters the site.

Main Chapel

One of the most inspiring features that I wanted to incorporate into the chapel design was the expressive lighting that Tadao Ando displays in many of his buildings. This strips of light coming from a side wall or a roof. Based on the schematic modeling i did for the project, the side chapel really expressed this lighting effect. Like much of Ando's work, I imagine this structure being made of thick concrete walls that have a slit of light in the top of the chapel all along the corridor.
Also at the end of the of the chapel, there are three slits of light that form a triangle. This might be my beloved detail that represents the trinity as three different components that together make one body represented by the triangle.

In progress Chapel

This model to the left was the original plan i had for the chapel. It was a campus like setting with most of the buildings being apart from each other, with the exception of the side chapel being attached to the chapel. This model was mostly inspired by Tadao Ando and the way his architecture incorporates light. I really admire how he uses simple shapes such as rectangles and simple triangles to make elegant buildings. Also the use on concrete with light was something very appealing yet very simple and pure.

Section Model

Hi everyone,

Here are a couple pictures of my section model at 1/4". I've made a lot of revisions after the midreview, including simplifying the circulation and changing the location of the side chapel. You can see in the pictures how the interior wall separates the main chapel with the side chapel. I wanted my chapel to focus on the interior experience, suggested by the sloping roof and the triangular point of the building. Conversely, my side chapel is meant to be a more outward experience, allowing people to reflect while enjoying the beautiful views of the ocean. It is hard to tell from the photographs, but the slits between the wall and the roof allow a small amount of light to enter the chapel from the side. The main expressive light features still comes from the slit in the center of the building.

Now that I am content with my floor plan, I am working out the details of how I want to incorporate windows into the main chapel walls and really make the point of the triangle a special structure.