DAAPWorks
Where do we go when the wo chaos of our current realities causes can a space, a sanctuary, reconnect ou human abilities in order to cope and In our project we have explored the spaces. Gemini is a restoration center awakening, comfort and vulnerability,
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
orld makes us cry? The overwhelming a ripple of burnout and fatigue. How urselves to the healing capacity of our heal from the pain of these realities. e concepts of sanctuary and healing r that explores the duality of rest and , and the primordial and subliminal.
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
What significance could architecture have in the healing process? Healing is a holistic process, involving the senses, vision, and our physical environment, so the entire experience of healing should be just as holistic. The experience extends beyond the body, to the envelope and to the landscape. Architecture and design can be an asset to support healing, recovery, and rehabilitation. The notion of healing architecture arose from the new field of Evidence Based Design pioneered by Roger Ulrich and Esther Sternberg. What we now categorize as a ‘healing environment’ historically have been places where nature itself was said to have a great impact on healing and recovery. The life giving forces of water is cited in early descriptions of garden paradises, medieval bathhouses, and later thermal spa resorts for bathing and recuperating. The first study with a scientific basis to establish that physical space does contribute to healing was first introduced by Ulrich in 1984. His study showed that there is a direct correlation between views to nature and recovery speed. Esther Sternberg said, “Perhaps the best thing a window can do is provide a portal.” Together, we are creating dual surreal environments as portals of escape to transport us away from our reality. Resources such as Esther Sternberg and our accompanying research emphasize the importance of removing oneself from exterior stressors.
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
the senses
healing spaces physical environment
vision
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
How might w
create a san healing for t moral fatigu
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
we...
nctuary that promotes those experiencing ue?
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
a release...
to the subliminal If our reality is the cause of our ailment, how can it be the answer to our healing? Well, it isn’t. To heal, we must release ourselves from the expectations of the known. The spaces in which we heal must do the same. Subliminal spaces juxtapose and combine recognizable parts of reality to re-imagine what is possible. They stimulate an awareness of ourselves and force perception inward, where healing begins.
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
and a return...
to the primordial To create sanctuary, we must return to the known. To what is known intrinsically makes us feel comfortable: environments that have roots in our primordial history. Forms derived from nature, organic materials, colors reflective of the landscape, and blurring the lines between the indoors and out.
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
return / outward perception rest / primordial relax / viewing things
core is our common ground
transcend / inward perception awakening / subliminal vulnerability /being viewed
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
SITE PLAN Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
Storm King is located and hour and a half from Grand Central in New York City. It is known for it’s escapist nature, a place to get away from the noise and relax. Its’ awe-inspiring views, beautiful landscape, and profound art give Storm King an existing surreal, subliminal, and primordial quality. Housing our sanctuary here allows for our interiors to thrive off these existing qualities. A sanctuary within a sanctuary. To site our building, we chose the South Fields. In the South Fields, the art is less densely packed, the expansive landscape is the main work of art here. We have oriented our building off the existing path on the grounds for easy circulation from the parking lot to the building while also positioning our building towards the water and the mountains as to take advantage of the views Storm King has to offer.
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
EXTERIOR SECTION Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
EXTERIOR AXON Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
ROOF PLAN Alejandra Garcia
EXTERIOR VIEW
DAAPWorks
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
5ʼ 1ʼ
20ʼ 10ʼ
RENDERED PLAN Alejandra Garcia
COURTYARD
LOCKER ROOM VIEW 1
LOCKER ROOM VIEW 2
DAAPWorks
upp
cor
low Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
per level
re
wer level
To distinguish the primordial and the subliminal, we separated our programming into wet and dry. The lower level is a guided sequence of pools. The end reveals a set of stairs that cut through the core to reach the dry environment of the upper level. To drive the material, lighting, and form of each level, we chose existing, surreal wet and dry environments to emulate in the space. Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
grotto
5ʼ 1ʼ
20ʼ 10ʼ
LOWER LEVEL Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
wadi
shore
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
GROTTO
The first wet environment of the lower level is the grotto, inspired by St. Michael’s cave in Gibraltar and the grotto of Lourdes, France. Upon submersion to the underground, the user is immersed into the first pool. The ceiling height drops and the path narrows as they are guided through the space. The low ceiling and up lighting imitate the cave environment of grottos. The use of linear, horizontal wall treatments guide the user through the dark space where they are met with a light atrium at the end of the hall, as a moment of relief. From there, they pour out into the first large pool of the lower level, an open space with larger scaled walls of stone and light leaks. This environment encapsulates a high contrast between light and dark to emphasize the wet, dark caves of a grotto.
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
WADI
The second environment is inspired by the natural phenomenon of wadis, specifically the Wadi Ash Shab of Muscat, Oman. Wadi Shab is a guided journey through a river valley, framed by the mountainous rocks Oman has to offer. The first pool in the wadi environment has seating on the perimeter with jets off the wall, imitating the waterfalls within a wadi. The natural travertines and gradient of materials encapsulates the rocks and mountains of Oman. After this pool, the user is guided through a dark hallway and swims under an entry to the deprivation tank, imitating the caves and pockets one may find during a wadi experience. From there, the user swims under and out to the last wadi pool, another moment of relief. The user steps onto an above water platform as one would step out of the water for a partial hike in a wadi experience before transitioning to the final wet environment.
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
deprivat
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
tion pool
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
SHORE
The final wet environment is inspired by the shores of the Amalfi Coast. The shore is different from the beach, as it is the part where the ocean meets the sand but you are not yet on dry land. As the user moves through the shore experience, the water gets more shallow. The glass partitions obstruct the view of the user as they move forward in the space, imitating waves obstructing the views of someone in the ocean, swimming toward the shore. The ceiling treatment of the shore space creates a scattered pattern of light that imitates light glittering off the water of the ocean. The final space of the shore is the reflection pool. Here the user is met with a mermaid rock where they can sit upon and view the light patterns of the space. This is a moment of pause and relief for the user before the final step out of the water and up the sandy steps to the desert environment of the dry, upper level.
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
LOWER LEVEL SECTION
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
5ʼ 1ʼ
20ʼ 10ʼ
Alejandra Garcia
TRANSVERSE SECTION
5ʼ 1ʼ
20ʼ 10ʼ
DAAPWorks
volcano
Patty Sue Gibboney
salt
can
nyon
Gemini
oasis
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
VOLCANO
Each landscape chosen has informed the form, materiality, and lighting strategy of the design in some way. The interior of the sauna was inspired by the interior of an active volcano. The skylight representing the oculus, the materiality from hardened lava, and the sauna program from the intense heat. The exterior of the sauna was inspired by the basalt column formations in Iceland. Many of these natural wonders are cliffs located next to a body of water. Opening the space starts to blur the thresholds between the exterior and the interior.
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
Alejandra Garcia
SAUNA EXTERIOR
SAUNA INTERIOR
DAAPWorks
SALT
The salt area of the plan draws from two different salt mines: Salt caves and the outdoor salt pools of Maras, Peru. Once guests arrive from the sandy shore, they have an opportunity to wash their hands or feet at the basins, whose form is inspired by the salt pools. The skylight above and openness to the exterior of the volcano area emulates an outdoor experience. The salt room used for halotheraphy (salt inhalation) is inspired by the strange beauty of underground salt caves. The main material here is of course salt, rendered in 3 different finishes. Going from room to room, there are areas of relief and compression.
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
Alejandra Garcia
ENTRY
SALT ROOM
Final Capstone Presentation
CANYON
The free and open plan of the canyon serves as a liminal space between the salt area and the oasis. The canyons of Arizona were the main inspiration here, especially for the light tunnel qualities. The skylight guides guests through the space leading them from the desert to the oasis.
Patty Sue Gibboney
CANYON ROOM
Final Capstone Presentation
OASIS
The oasis serves as a reflection space, providing unobstructed views to the outside. After moving though controlled dessert landscape, the oasis brings the peace and relief one might experience from laying on a grassy lawn (minus all the bugs). Similar to the exterior of the volcano, bringing “exterior” materials inside starts to blur the threshold between what is outdoors and the indoors.
Patty Sue Gibboney
OASIS
DAAPWorks
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
UPPER LEVEL SECTION
Alejandra Garcia
DAAPWorks
THANK YOU! Ali and Patty would like to thank their family, friends, professors, and each other for all the support they have received on this project and their five years within the program. Thank you for taking the time to appreciate our work, we hope you have enjoyed. If you would like to explore our work further, please check out our websites: alejandragarciadesign.com pattysue.design
Patty Sue Gibboney
Gemini
Alejandra Garcia