DESERT GALLERY

Montello Foundation Competition: Honorable Mention

Partner: Victoria Graziano

Traditionally, an exhibit space serves to frame presented works of art. Here the structure exhibits both the artwork ‘within’ produced by artists, and the artwork without produced by the natural world. As one approaches or passes by, the structure maintains a continuously changing opacity where the desert environment and the core materialize and dematerialize to the viewer. This renders the desert environment as an active participant in terms of exhibition, where it simultaneously frames the structure and is framed by it as a work of art.

Space and people filter through the field of timber elements towards the art that is nested within the rammed earth core of the structure. The timber elements touch the earth lightly and the rammed earth core of the space is made of the same soil of the desert itself. This does not only respond to the site in terms of building economy and sustainability, but it generates an osmosis of light and space that guide one through a procession to a nest of artwork in the desert.

Firm: Archipelagos

Selected for Room 18 Publication

The objective of this competition was to design a hotel room for the contemporary traveler in Greece.

The contemporary traveler is defined as an individual who depends on smart devices to help sort and customize travel preferences and touristic experiences. While we are able to personalize our virtual world to cater to our individual needs as tourists, the physical world of touristic accommodation offers little or no flexibility to allow for user preference. The idea is to create flexible space that may be user defined within the confines of a typical hotel room (4m x 6m) that may cater to the idiosyncrasies of the tourist as well as multiple travel companion combinations.

This is achieved through automated and manual track regulated mechanized movement of a kit of parts that allow both space and storage, to expand/ contract and change location. This provides the user with a variety of spatial conditions of varying degrees of room privacy and function. The user has the ability to determine the condition that will work best whether traveling alone, with a friend, family or other companion. Part of this idea expands to the virtual world where the tourist may reserve the room and select the desired layout from a menu of hotel room configurations upon booking. The hotel may reserve the right to allow the guest to have on demand control over the change of layout or adjust the room for the guest upon request.