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[Chicsa]

I'm in graduate school for Architecture working on my thesis. My thesis is entitled Entheogenic Architecture + Urbanism, the idea is to reintrepret spirituality for the 21st century, and develop design strategies, as well as planning strategies to encourage Community Spirituality, giving people the opportunity to practice whatever they'd like in an Entheogenic Space, whether that be praying to Jesus or Mecca, meditation, yoga, and I'd love to even have entheogenic rituals to take place within a legal and contextual setting with these spaces.

Anyway I have a full abstract and poster I can post, but here's my first "Installation" I will be starting construction over the summer, hopefully done in time for the first semester of my thesis, so I can get it out in an urban area, then a festival and interview people who use it. Here's my sketches I've developed. I'd love to hear suggestions

The design is to make something that is mostly nature. My main concepts arise from this idea I've been playing with called Renaturation. Renaturation is inspired by Angkor an Wat in Thailand. I want to make architecture that is meant to be taken over by nature. The reasoning establishes a relationship between occupant and building, as the building has a different appearance in different times of the year, and also how the plants of the building perform actual services for the building and the public. Which leads me to the next reason of using plants which was for sensory influence. All senses must be heightened for this, stones will be placed irregularly along the transition space, to make people focus on what they are doing. The scent of fragrant plants will fill the space as well as the feeling of being in a space enclosed by plants (generally this lowers the temperature and provides a much more pleasant experience than a traditional enclosure, this is because plants reflect and absorb heat more than they radiate it such as a wood structure would) Adding another layer of tactile experience would be when people actually touch the plants, so plants with a pleasant touch are desired.

These are early conceptual drawings, I will post more as I develop the design and such. Construction should start in April or May. It will be built in 2 sections roughly 6'x10' for mobility.

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[happyconcacti]

Whoa! Chickasaw Man, That's an awesome thesis project!

I have one question/suggestion: Would it be possible to make the area less "rectangular"?

Also, have you seen these structures?
http://www.digitalpermaculture.com/geoforms-2/

They can make almost any shape you could possibly desire and almost any size. They're made out of conduit tubing and are very, very sturdy and durable. They would be awesome trellises for vines or whatnot.

Hcc

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[23]

Cool! I love the idea. Surely there's some divine intention behind the  work
I look forward to seeing the finished project. I think these kind of sanctuaries are destined to repopulate the urban and "non", so I'm happy you're making use of you're thesis in such a positive, innovative and exciting way! Yeah renaturation is beautiful. In Rome most of the city center is renaturated in some way and it helps give the city that mystical-timeless look.
Yeah I still haven't looked at HCC's post but probably my only criticism would be the rectangular shape. But said criticism is based on a very personal and not thought-through gnosis, so probably you have already taken it in consideration. I'm more for the renaturated pantheon or even better greek sanctuary. You might want to look into the greek early architecture as they were maniacs of proportion and had their things figured out in terms of adaptance in nature.
Congratulations!

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[Chicsa]

Thanks for the responses, I typically do not design in a box at all lol. I chose the boxy shapes for ease of construction and cost. Those things look awesome! I am gonna look into em and start tweaking the design if I can afford it. My future designs will be much more fun!

I have to keep in mind the question "Can I build it myself" lol. I dont have too much craftsman ability yet so we'll see! Sure I can build models, but building full scale is definitely 100% different lol

I'll take some time in the up coming week to post my thesis abstract on here, I think it really coincides with what you said 23, I also think you guys would just enjoy it in general.

The existing dimensions and proportions are based on the Kiwarii system for Japanese teahouse construction. That is sort of the base inspiration for these meditation pavillions, Idk how familiar you all are with the Tea Ceremony but they are all about altering consciousness and the Tea House is part of that whole experience. I'm really inspired by Zen Gardens for this whole thing. I went to Japan last year, and am returning next year specifically to study Zen Architecture for that reason. I want my architecture to alter consciousness as much as the act of whatever it is that someone is doing in there. Zen architecture takes into consideration everything from the garden design, the plants themselves, the rocks more than the building itself... The building is almost tertiary.

Not sure if I can post this or not, so feel free to remove it mods... But if you'd like to see my work that's already online you can find it here (just click book preview)
http://www.blurb.com/b/4137627-core-deisgn-portfolio

I have much more recent work, but I'm not done editing it for portfolio format yet, I'm planning on posting about the sustainable community I designed for Ottawa as part of Research done by my University for them.

[TBM]

The whole idea sounds awesome, I love everything about it.


If you're looking for this thesis project to be as interactive as possible, maybe you could include a few Camellia sinensis plants or other plants capable of being brewed like mint or chamomile or something of the sort, all you would need is a means to boil water and you can include taste as one of the senses being heightened

I also like your idea of having plants with a pleasant touch, maybe you could include Mimosa pudica as part of the tactile experience... it would need to be mature enough to endure all the inevitable abuse

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[Roze]

Are you planning to built it with bamboo?  You can make incredible things with it, the entire dance temple in boom festival was made of it, superb!
http://www.bamboodna.com/

"Bamboo has been used as building material for many centuries in all regions in which it grows, especially in Asia. Today it is gaining in popularity also among Western architects and engineers due to its reputation of a quickly replenishing and therefore sustainable raw material. In addition, its tensile as well as compressive strength, which can compete with those of steel, stone and concrete, make bamboo a very desirable construction material.
The range extends from traditional building styles and their modern interpretation to the combination of bamboo with other materials. Frequently, beyond its use for purely construction purposes it also serves as a primary design element"

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[Chicsa]

Definitly considering some elements shifting to bamboo! Thank you for that

[nobody]

If you use bamboo look into Borax treatment. If it is not treated you can only expect  5 years before insects destroy it. 

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