A MOMENT OF PAUSE

GLENN PARTNERS DESIGN COMPETITION // HONORABLE MENTION

RHINOCEROS 6 PHOTOSHOP/ILLUSTRATOR

After analyzing Deep Deuce district at the heart of Oklahoma City, I became inspired by the marquee located at the entrance of Aldridge theater. It is interesting how this marquee creates an outdoor space that feels as if it is separated from everything surrounding it, but it is still a part of the whole. The space created under this marquee is an outdoor space that does not feel as part of the sidewalk, but instead, it creates an experience that makes people stop for a moment, and enjoy the theater even when they’re not really inside the theater yet. . .

It was important for this building to recreate that moment of pause, a transitional process from the busy city to the inside of the building, in which the user is outside the building but still experience a different feeling from being just standing on the parking lot. This giant marquee functions as an architectural element that not only creates an space outside the entrance, but it also pulls people to the inside of the building. There’s a floor to ceiling opening at the entrance that eliminates the boundary between the inside and outside. The entry is contracted under the marquee, but when you move to the ramp, or the studio, the spatiality changes and the space expands. The interior plan of the building also contributes to this concept of pulling people to the inside, since it enlarges, in plan and section, and it creates a complete different spacial experience in each space.