School is back, and fourth year design studio started with a one-week charette. We were given a small plot of land downtown (25' x 85') and told to design a monument to architectural space. Doesn't get much more vague than that, right? I decided I wanted to make an intimate space in the middle of downtown - a place for reflection and meditation - to get away from the stress and noise of urban life.
I was feeling pretty good about my design - until our critique yesterday. They said it was claustrophobic, I had designed a shoebox, lack of context, etc.... One critic said it reminded her of a Richard Serra piece (that's not so bad, right?) The worst part of the charette is that it is graded anonymously, and there's no chance to defend your design. So, I observed as my design was ripped to shreds. Final drawings are due on Monday, and even though I still really like my design, I need to come up with some changes. I'm thinking if I deconstruct parts of the wall I might be able to keep the rest the same. We'll see. It's going to be a long weekend.
