Wave Hill Community Center
649 W 249th St, Bronx, NY
A structure housing a gallery, auditorium, study, classroom and an artist residence, created for Wave Hill in the Bronx, NY
Based on a plate tectonic sequence of two thrusting plates followed by convergent fanning, the center forms a spine that cuts into the site. Structural ribs create four separate spacial qualities: The gallery and auditorium form a crevice leading to the underground study, the earth starts peeling away from the classroom and covers it. Finally the structure is completely unearthed and in-filled by glass slats to make a residency. It is inspired by indigenous North American sweat lodge typologies as well as the earth lodge (typical of many plains and eastern woodland dwelling nations) as well as a study I did of Skara Brae ( a highly advanced neolithic subterranean village made of whalebone and earth located in Scotland).