The Geodesic Art Compound

Exterior Perspective Drawing: Geodesic Art Compound

The structure of my design is intended to provide a space for creative minds to meet, collaborate and construct various artworks. The space will serve as a gathering place for un-established artistic minds of the community to meet and encourage each other to stay actively involved in a creative environment. In this space, art can be both produced and exhibited while awareness of local artists in the community is encouraged and enhanced. The use of recycled materials in the building’s exterior structure as well as interior design will encourage interest in utilization and value of found materials in the community, specifically as used in artistic creation. My hope is that young artists will gradually outgrow the commune and go on to spread awareness and support of the next generation of artists to flow through, creating an ever-evolving and malleable common place that reflects the talent and creativity of the community.

Floor Plan: Level One

building will have one entrance on the lower level. Upon entering the building, you will first notice a display on the wall facing the front door. The display will be created by the contributing artists and will tell the story of the current exhibition or works in progress. As you walk around the lower perimeter of the building, you will notice loosely defined workspaces, separated only by tables, carts and chairs in use. The furniture will all be repositionable to allow for impromptu repositioning to accommodate collaboration or exhibition. Shelves and chalkboards will line alternating walls and provide storage for various art supplies. Each workspace will be designed to accommodate various projects including photography, sculpture, drawing and painting. The center structure within the dome will contain both a men’s and women’s bathroom as well as an ADA compliant elevator that will provide access to the upper story and inner balcony. On the exterior of the bathroom, a large sink made from a recycled tub will provide water for artists to wash their brushes and clean their supplies. Bookcases will line the other walls surrounding the bathrooms and elevator, providing space for donated books, magazines, and reading materials.

Floor Plan: Level Two

The upper level will consist of a balcony, 3’ in width, which will wind around the inner perimeter of the building. Along the walls of the dome, artists will have space to hang art work that may be observed from the balcony. The balcony will connect to the a lounge area that will stretch along the diameter of the structure. This area will host various lounge furniture and have places for refreshments to be set out in the event of exhibition. This area will double as a gathering area for artists to discuss present and future projects.

The dome that will rest upon the walls of the structure will be a spectacle within itself. Glass panes assembled from variously sized shards of recycled glass will allow brilliant, natural light to flow through the compound. Light fixtures created from found and recycled materials will hang from the structural components of the dome. Artists will also have the ability to hang artwork from the roof of the dome, further enhancing the space as an artistic haven.

This type of structure is adaptable to various climate and terrain. The curved roof creates a highly weather-able structure suitable for winds native to Kansas and Southern California. I believe this design concept would work well in an urban area in which the art community could use a little revitalization. For example, downtown Wichita is highly saturated by the art community, but little artistic flavor is apparent in the more suburbial parts of town. I think this space would be ideally set in an area surrounded by neighborhoods and away from the downtown area, similar to the placement of the pottery center at Douglas and Meridian in West Wichita. I would like for the structure to be accessible by people of the community so that awareness and support can help manifest its growth.

Interior Perspective Drawing: Preliminary Sketch

The simplicity of the design of the structure will allow members of the community to become involved in its assembly. Ideally, the first artists who wish to use the space for exhibition would be involved in its creation and could utilize the first exhibition to tell the story of its birth in the community. The structure and all that it contains will be built up from as much existing and recycled material as can be found within the community. Tables and benches will be built out of recycled wood and light fixtures and sinks will be created out of found materials such as recycled wheelbarrows and prescription pill bottles. The structure will be built from walls made from recycled sheet metal and wood and will support a dome with window panels created from recycled pieces of glass. The structure itself is designed to be as artistic as the work intended to be made within its walls. My design is merely a suggestion of the proposed layout and shape of the structure. Depending on what material is found and incorporated into the assembly of furniture and light fixtures, the final product of the interior design may transform.

Interior Perspective Drawing: Digital Rendering

I have chosen the colors blue-green, yellow-green, and red for the color theme of the interior. Psychologically, blue encourages productivity. Green is soothing and creates a serene environment. Red accelerates and energizes the body and mind. I believe the combination of this color scheme will encourage productivity and creativity and seem inviting to newcomers. In addition to their affect on mood and productivity, I believe these colors are more natural and less distracting than some of the other colors on the color wheel, which may interfere with productivity and the creative process. When black is added to both yellow-green and blue-green, the colors are very earthy and muted. The lounge area located on the upper level will be decorated using the complementary colors yellow-green and red-violet. The yellow green will help tie the color scheme in with the rest of the interior’s structure. Red-violet is a calming, luxurious color, which I believe will help people relax in this area.

I believe that our culture has a substantial lack of this type of environment in the community. Not only do most places charge to use studio space, but instruction of any kind can be extremely expensive. I believe the building of this design would promote community involvement and support for the arts. The building could be erected at extremely low cost and the design is simple enough that people with little to no carpentry knowledge could significantly contribute to its creation. In addition to supporting the art community, the design would encourage the use and transformation of found and recycled materials. The world we live in is oblivious to the amount of waste we produce. A large amount of what we throw out could easily be transformed into beautifully unique and useful objects and materials. Instructables.com offers thousands of ideas on how to create furniture and utilizable objects using recycled materials. The value in using what we already have is undeniable. I believe this is an important credo for all artists as we are often operating on low budgets. The space would encourage the sharing of knowledge and materials and involvement in the community.

Dome Construction (Vellum & Balsa Wood)

During this project, I struggled with the initial design and shape of the building’s structure. After researching geodesic structures, I found an instructional website that
explained the building process for similar designs. After building my own model, I tweaked my design and was able to begin working on the details of the interior. Because the interior is essentially one open space, the creative freedom was limitless. I believe the open-aspect of the design would encourage collaboration as well as malleability.