Architecture Program
Date of this Version
May 2008
Abstract
My THESIS PROJECT IS AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE THE USE OF ARCHITECTURE IN DEFINING PRIVACY AND CREATE A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT WHICH ASSISTS THE HUMAN BODY IN ACHIEVING SELF AWARENESS, SELF CONSCIOUSNESS, AND SELF REALIZATION WHICH SUPPORT ACHIEVEMENT OF A REFLECTIVE MOMENT. THE VEHICLE FOR THIS PROCESS IS A COED SPA LOCATED ON NORTHERLY ISLAND ACROSS THE BAY FROM CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. I HAVE USED A VARIETY OF APPROPRIATE SOCIO/PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES AND PROCESSES IN CON.JUNCTION WITH A SERIES OF THRESHOLDS AND SPACES IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT TRANSCENDENCE INTO THIS REFLECTIVE MOMENT.
I HAVE CREATED AN ARCHITECTURAL FORM THAT IS BOLD AND GIVES RISE TO FREEDOM OF ARCHITECTURAL THOUGHT. BIEN-ETRE, A FRENCH WORD MEANING "WELL-BEING" OR "GOOD EXISTENCE", WILL BE INCONGRUOUS TO ITS PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT NEAR DOWNTOWN CHICAGO. UNLIKE THE BOX-SHAPED STEEL AND GLASS BUSINESS-CENTERED STRUCTURES OF THE NEARBY CITY, THIS SPA, WHICH WILL BE LOCATED ON NEARBY NORTHERLY ISLAND, REFLECTS THE CULTURE OF THE USERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH IT IS LOCATED. BIEN-ETRE WILL NOT URBANIZE THE SCENIC PASTORAL TRAILS OF NORTHERLY ISLAND. ALL CONSTRUCTION AND ACTIVITIES AT THE SPA WILL BE CONDUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH GREEN PRACTICES. CONSEQUENTLY, THE TREES ALONG SOLIDARITY DRIVE AND THOSE SURROUNDING THE SPA WILL REMAIN UNTOUCHED. MORE NATURAL PRAIRIE WILL BE PLANTED ON THE ISLAND. THIS ENVIRONMENTAL MAINTENANCE ASSURES THAT THE SITE PROVIDES THE UTMOST RELAXATION AND SERENITY FOR ITS GUESTS.
BIEN-ETRE WILL BE A RESPITE FROM THE METROPOLITAN LIFE OF CHICAGO PROVIDING RELAXATION, RECREATION, AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SELF REALIZATION. ALL THE WHILE, THE NEARBY CITY WILL BE THE ANTITHESIS OF RELAXATION. THE ACTIVITIES ON THE INTERIOR OF THE SPA AND ITS IMMEDIATE EXTERIOR ENVIRONS WILL BRING A SENSE OF CALM AND RELAXATION TO ITS CLIENTELE, VISITORS TO THE METROPOLITAN CENTER AS WELL AS EXECUTIVES WHO WORK IN THE NEARBY DOWNTOWN AREA. THE SPA WILL BE A RELAXING, SERENE OASIS FROM THE RIGORS OF DAILY LIFE WHILE HAVING THE BENEFITS OF A NEARBY DENSE URBAN ENVIRONMENT. ANY COMPARISON TO THE NEARBY METROPOLITAN STREETS WILL EMPHASIZE THE PLACID ENVIRONMENT SURROUNDING THE SPA.
THE SITE ACROSS THE BAY WILL PRESENT A UNIQUE VIEW AND PERSPECTIVE TO SPA-GOERS AS THEY BECOME "WATCHERS" OF THE BUSY LIFE ON THE STREETS OF CHICAGO. By DAYLIGHT, PATRONS OF BIEN-ETRE WILL BE CLOSE ENOUGH TO WITNESS THE CONSTANT ACTIVITY AT MCCORMICK PLACE WHICH IS LOCATED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BAY AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO OBSERVE THE SPARKLING TOWERS OF THE CITY'S DOWNTOWN SKYSCRAPERS. IN ADDITION, GUESTS OF BIEN-ETRE WILL HAVE A GORGEOUS NIGHTTIME VIEW OF CHICAGO'S SKYLINE WITH ITS MANY CARS AND MOTORIZED VEHICLES, HEADLIGHTS BLAZING, AS THEY DART TO AND FRO IN THE DARKNESS, THESE OBSERVATIONS WILL EMPHASIZE THE SERENITY, CALM, AND PASTORAL NATURE OF CHICAGO'S NORTHERLY ISLAND.
BIEN-ETRE'S PURPOSE IS ONE OF FREEDOM FROM RESPONSIBILITY; FLUIDITY OF TIME AND MOVEMENT; RELAXATION, AND ACHIEVEMENT OF A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF "SELF". THESE PURPOSES WILL BE ACHIEVED THROUGH A CONTROLLED AND CHOREOGRAPHED SET OF EXPERIENCES WHICH PROCEED THROUGH THE SHEDDING OF "LAYERS" OF HIS/HER PREVIOUS LIFE AND SURMOUNTS A VARIETY OF THRESHOLDS AND SPACES WITHIN THE SPA. THE METRO AREA WILL BECOME A BACKDROP FOR A THEATRICAL PROCESSION OF MOVEMENT ON THE GRAND STAIRCASE, THE ROMAN BATHS, MASSAGES, AND VARIOUS SPA FUNCTIONS. THE CITY WILL RECEDE FURTHER AND FURTHER INTO THE BACKGROUND THROUGHOUT THE PROGRESSION OF THE PROCEDURES, THE DRAMA AND EMOTIONS OF THE ONGOING ACTIVITIES WILL LULL THE PARTICIPANT INTO TOTAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE ONGOING ACTIVITIES, THE STRESS OF THE PATRON'S NORMAL EXISTENCE WILL BECOME ONLY A FAINT, BLURRY MEMORY AS THE TREATMENTS CONTINUE AND HE/SHE IS SWEPT UP IN THE ONGOING ACTIVITIES. THE DREAMLIKE STATE WILL BE AIDED BY SPECIAL WINDOWS THAT CAN DARKEN DUE TO THE INTENSITY OF EXTERIOR LIGHT OR AT THE TOUCH OF AN ELECTRIC SWITCH IN ORDER TO CONTROL LIGHT AND HEAT AND PROVIDE VARYING DEGREES OF PRIVACY FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
SKYLINE WITH ITS MANY CARS AND MOTORIZED VEHICLES, HEADLIGHTS BLAZING, AS THEY DART TO AND FRO IN THE DARKNESS. THESE OBSERVATIONS WILL EMPHASIZE THE SERENITY, CALM, AND PASTORAL NATURE OF CHICAGO'S NORTHERLY ISLAND.
I HAVE DRAWN UPON THE THEORIES OF A NUMBER OF LEARNED PHILOSOPHERS, SOCIOLOGISTS, AND PSYCHOLOGISTS WHEN FORMULATING THE GUESTS' PROGRESSION TOWARD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF "SELF" AND HIS/HER TRANSCENDENCE TO A MOMENT OF REFLECTION. IMMANUEL KANT'S ASSERTION THAT PERCEPTION IS BASED UPON EXPERIENCE OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS AND A PRIORI KNOWLEDGE WAS AN APPROPRIATE BEGINNING TO MY USE OF THESE THEORIES. THE EXPLANATIONS OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS BY GEORGE HERBERT MEAD AND HIS THEORY OF THE EMERGENCE OF MIND AND SELF WERE ALSO AN ASSET TO MY EFFORTS. HIS INSIGHTS ABOUT REFLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS WERE ALSO HELPFUL. THE MORE RECENT WORK ON TRANSCENDENTAL PHENOMENOLOGY BY EDMUND HUSSERL WAS THE CORNERSTONE OF MY USE OF SOCIO/PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY IN ORDER TO GUIDE THE INDIVIDUAL'S EXPERIENCES TOWARD THE FINAL GOAL. THIS THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE WAS INVALUABLE IN MY ATTEMPTS TO CHOREOGRAPH THE INDIVIDUAL'S PROGRESS FROM AN "ANIMALISTIC", IS UNAWARE STATE THROUGH THE ACTIVITIES THAT STRIP AWAY BARRIERS, LAYERS, AND INHIBITIONS. THIS JOURNEY PROGRESSES THROUGH SPACES, AND THRESHOLDS AND FINALLY ENDS IN A PLACE THAT ALLOWS SELF AWARENESS, SELF REALIZATION, AND TRANSCENDENCE INTO A REFLECTIVE MOMENT,
IN ADDITION TO THE USE OF SOCIO/PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES FOR THE PLANNING AND DESIGN STAGES OF MY PROJECT, I ALSO BASED MY ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROCEDURES ON THE METHODS OF "EXPERTS". My APPROACH TO CONCEPTUALIZING AND DESIGNING BIEN-ETRE HAS ITS ROOTS IN DECONSTRUCTION ISM AS ESPOUSED BY THE PHILOSOPHER, ..JACQUE DERRIDA. HIS POINT OF VIEW IS THAT THE DECONSTRUCTIONIST PROCESS IS NEVER REALLY COMPLETE, BUT A CONTINUOUS PROCESS, DECONSTRUCTIONISM IS A PHILOSOPHY THAT IS ADJUSTED WITHIN ITSELF, THE GOAL IS TO CREATE A HOLISTIC TRUTHFUL CONCEPT AND DESIGN, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF PETER EISENMAN, DERRIDA APPLIED HIS THEORIES TO ARCHITECTURE.
My DESIGN PROCESS IS ALSO UNIQUE BECAUSE THE METHODOLOGY AND PROCESS DO NOT FOLLOW THE TRADITIONAL LINEAR PATTERN, IT IS A HOLISTIC APPROACH, AND LIKE DERRIDA'S DECONSTRUCTIONISM, IT IS AN ONGOING AND CONTINUOUS PROCESS, I WAS AT THE CENTER OF THE PROCEDURES, CREATING IN THREE DIMENSIONS AROUND MYSELF, THE DESIGN ON THE COMPUTER TERMINAL WAS AN EXTENSION OF MY BEING, A PART OF MY EXISTENCE WITH MY IMMERSION IN THE PROCESS CONTINUING THROUGHOUT, THE DESIGN ACTIVITIES.
BIEN-ETRE WILL BE AN OASIS THAT PROVIDES SEPARATION FROM THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT, YET ALLOWS THE PATRON TO LOOK BACK AT THE CITY IN A VOYEURISTIC WAY, AS HE/SHE OBSERVES THE THEATER THAT IS PRESENTED BY LIFE IN THE NEARBY METROPOLITAN AREA, THE SPECTACULAR VIEW OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO WILL BE EVER-PRESENT FROM THE SPA, YET WITHIN THE WALLS OF THE SPA, ITS MEMORY WILL BE BLURRED AND DREAMLIKE AS THE CLIENT BECOMES IMMERSED IN THE ACTIVITIES AND TREATMENTS THAT ARE OFFERED THEREIN AND PROCEEDS TOWARD TRANSCENDENCE IN THE REFLECTIVE MOMENT.