ALLYSON NAVARRO: ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN II
PROJECT 01: SUPERHEROES
During our time in the studio we had to choose a historically important woman. Alongside choosing our client, we were contemplated to design a memorial and a foundation to memorialize. I obviously chose Selena Quintanilla as I always dreamed of learning how to dance, sing and dress like her.
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RESEARCH COLLAGE:
Since Selena Quintanilla was an extraordinary young woman. She was one of the reasons why there was a rise in the Latin music industry which became popular across the United States.In my research collage, I added a dark narrow path on the top left corner. This path symbolizes a path of darkness and on the other side of this path you find light it gets more narrow because you are closer to reality. Selena was apart of the D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Association) she helped children practice good decision making and guide you to a good path in life. Right underneath the dark grey path is some song lyrics of one of her most famous songs she created which was "Amor Prohbido" this song is inspired by Selena's grandmother she was a wealthy maid in a Mexican household who had fallen in love with the son of the family. This song won a Grammy Award for the best Mexican-American Album. As you look in the middle of the collage you see two flags cut exactly in half, the one on the top was the Mexican flag and the lower one was the Texas flag. She was born in Lake Jackson, Texas about 147 miles from Corpus Christi where she was murdered. Above, the microphone are some lyrics from the song "Como La Flor" This song compares a dying flower to loosing love. This song was one of Selena's "Breakthrough Hits" it's the song that most people recognize now a days and made her the most famous.
MEMORIAL PROJECTION DRAWING:
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In the picture showed to the left is the Elevation, Floorplan/Landscape and the section to my memorial. As showed in the image it doesn't look as complex architecturally. However, the symbolism behind this memorial is very strong and in depth. As you enter this dark cube shaped tunnel everything you see around is alive sort of like a massive garden all around you. There is a water fountain in the middle of this garden where you can sit around it and cherish mother nature. The water symbolizes pure and innocence as Selena Quintanilla was always remembered as. As you enter this dark shaped tunnel there is no light in there whatsoever. Walking through the tunnel you can see some white roses on the ceiling. But as you go through the tunnel there is a different feeling of the tunnel there are no plants and there are just vast spaces it's a feeling of empty but also whole. You get to see the view of the Gulf of Mexico. Enjoying the view of the Atlantic ocean you see the flow of water continuing and never ending this is similar to Selena Quintanilla's legacy she left behind, that's why we still talk about her today.
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The memorial will be dark inside using natural sunlight. The top of the ceiling will be covered in white roses to convey everlasting love and loyalty. As you exit the memorial there will be a deck where you can enjoy the beautiful views of the Gulf of Mexico. This portrays Selena in so many ways to her everlasting love for music and the everlasting legacy she left behind. The oceans a significant meaning as well.The oceanQuintanilla had so much loyalty for her band and chose to stick with her siblings through thick and thin.
SITE ANALYSIS:
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This site was chosen due to its opening to the Gulf of Mexico known as the Mouth of Brazos River. After going through the foundation and learning a little bit more of who Selena Quintanilla was you will take a ferry ride. The ferry will then drop you off at the memorial where you can engage with mother nature and see the incredible views of the Atlantic Ocean.
MASTER PLAN:
For this master plan I wanted my memorial to be before the foundation and not focus as much in the aspect of learning before you interact. So in that case you would enter through the dark cube tunnel it then would lead you to a fully learning experience. It would be fully open to walk around each exhibit and make you feel like your on the spot sort of how Selena was always. This will convey the similar message of being surrounded by water. It would feel like a floating pavilion n the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
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In the second master plan. I took advantage of spacing things out and not having them as cramped up. I also liked the idea of having the parking and foundation before the ferry ride. Once you get in the foundation and waiting area you would pay your ticket for the ferry ride. The ferry would then drop you off and you would be able to walk around this pavilion area. The memorial would then be in the middle of the pavilion.
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On my final master plan. I kept the idea that I wanted the memorial to take place before going into the foundation. The Foundation would still be spread out just like in the second master plan.Instead of having the memorial in the middle of all the activity centers there would be part of the ocean in the middle with trees. As I was finishing my thoughts I noticed that the concept looked to similar to the 02 master plan. So I thought why not take the curved edges and make everything in a triangular shape.
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CONCEPT 01:
Written Portion
As I was constructing my first model I noticed that I wanted to change a few things.I chose to make it more as a building instead of a recreational park. In that sense I decided to use my second master plan as inspiration to take all the rectangular components and stack them up on one another. This lead to set everything up like a museum layout. As you enter the building there is a water fountain that represents pure and innocence as Selena was known before she had her life taken away from her.As you can see in the model there are lots of trees and life before you enter the building however, on the other side of the building there is no trees whatsoever. This is done because we associate trees and nature with life. Everything around us is living but once we reach a certain point everything around us is no longer there. Throughout my concept models each one has a theme of water and life. They all connect to a ferry which leads you to Selena's memorial.
Concept 02:
Selena Quintanilla was a very like minded person and she always saw the good in others. In one of her songs she wrote she talked about a white flower, how it was so lovely and pure. In my model I chose to incorporate sort of like a gateway into heaven with nature in the front. This is a similar concept of connecting it with the ocean to represent her legacy she had left behind how the water keeps flowing through the earth. The reason why I chose my foundation to look sort of like a tent was because of the symbolism behind it. The spiritual meaning of a tent means the holy aspects of love. During her time she always liked to write and sing about love. In one of her songs she sung about her Mexican grandparents who were not allowed to be together. It was called "amor prohibido" (prohibited love) this idea took me to mix both the holy aspects of love and prohibited love. Being both open but at the same time enclosed. This was shown by the roof being closed and one wall relying on the other. The open spaces will be translucent to show the idea of how you can choose to love anyone.
Concept 03:
In this model I wanted to incorporate all the activity centers into separate parts of the curves. There would be a ramp to enter the facility and the rest of it would be above water. This would lay on the Brazos River. As you get to the end of the building there would be a deck where you can purchase tickets to go on a ferry ride that would then lead you to the memorial.
Preliminary Work - Foundation
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Explanation of layout: The foundation consist of three floors. When you enter the building you will be greeted by the receptionist and the people working in the facility to explain a little bit of who Selena was. Behind the reception area is where the elevator is where it would take you to the second floor and the rooftop. The first floor consists of public bathrooms, storage area for employees only, reception area and ticket booth to buy tickets to go on the ferry. The ferry ride is about 30 min long and leads you to the memorial where you can enjoy the vast views of The Gulf of Mexico. The second floor consists of the action space where you can play and interact with different types of instruments that Los Dinos played throughout the band. On the left hand side of the second floor there is a giant piano on the floor where you can interact and make your own type of music. Certainly not least the third floor, is where you can eat and fully enjoy the taste of Selena's favorite foods. This includes tacos that are inspired by Jack in the Box, pizza, snow cones flavored grape and cherry (since red and purple were her favorite colors), and a small gift shop honoring her legacy that continues to live on.
Symbolism behind it: Selena was known to be an extrovert she was loyal to her band and was very adventurous. As I took an approach with finalizing my ideas I decided to make everything sort of open and somehow connect with the outside. In this sense I made my foundation to be sort of like a museum where you can exhibit different things and walk around and see near by art that people have created honoring her. In order to connect with nature I decided to create sort of like a deck on the north side of the foundation where you can purchase your ferry tickets and wait for the ferry to pick you up. The memorial in the mouth of the Brazos River sysmrlized the pure, innocence and the everlasting legacy she left behind.
Preliminary Work - Residency
Explanation of layout: Though the residency is near water I decided to include that in my residency space. There is one deck that leads you to the boats where they can travel through the Brazos River and maintain the white flowers alive in the memorial. This residential home consists of two master bedrooms, two bathrooms, laundry, kitchen island, lounge area and a full developed deck.The layout of this home is done intentional to look like a basic one story home. I didn't want to add more floors because of flooding near the area. This residential home is to be considered as a boat house along the river.
Symbolism behind it: The location offers multiple purposes. One of them being that it can access the other buildings efficiently and a timely matter. It also sort of goes with the theme of water how it is continuesly flows throughout my three buildings. Additionally, it consists a traditional floorpan and is more homey than a floorpan that looks like a hotel. I purposely did this because Selena was a very family orientated kind of person. She barely had any social life, and she was always around her family. So I decided to make it more traditional than modern architecture. |