01 MEASURING AND ANALYZING THE TERRITORY

In my second-year Design project, I will be working in Design Il studio, which is organized in opposition to Design I. The objective of the studio is to develop a critical approach to form finding through evidence-based design methodologies, suspending categorical thinking and classifications. In the first semester, I will develop an understanding of how to read and activate a specific concept and idea in architecture through an architecture analysis. In the second semester, I will study the opposite pedagogy by defining a territory and approaching architecture through a site-specific intervention.

My project will involve designing a visitor’s center for Central Park, which will be a meeting place for locals and tourists to interact with and learn about Central Park’s natural living environment. The goal is to inspire preservation and coexistence of humans with nature through gardens, innovative educational programs, gathering and exhibition spaces. The center will integrate with the park’s biodiversity, complex circulation systems, and control access mechanisms, engaging with formal continuity, double curvature, fluidity, and complex construction systems such as steel and reinforced concrete.

Located off the corner of 5th Avenue and Central Park South, my proposal will become the gateway from the city to nature. Given its location, the topographical site’s immediate environmental richness includes the pond, nature trails, Hallet’s Nature Sanctuary, large scale rocks, trees, vegetation, and lush landscapes which act as a habitat for a variety of species. Throughout the semester, I will develop a spatial topology in relation to the program circulation and to interior and exterior spatial continuity, engaging with the site specificity and living environment of the park.

Central Park is an iconic urban park located in the heart of Manhattan, New York City. Spanning 843 acres, it is the most visited urban park in the United States and one of the most filmed locations in the world. The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and opened in 1858. Central Park offers a wide range of recreational activities, including jogging and biking paths, sports fields, a zoo, gardens, and lakes. It also features numerous sculptures, fountains, and other works of public art. Central Park is not only a haven for locals and tourists seeking a natural escape from the city, but also a vital habitat for wildlife in the midst of one of the world’s most bustling cities.