Malena

Salem Witch Trial Memorial

Thank you for viewing my page below you will see my work for this semester of my architecture design 2 class. I am Malena Wiedemann and I enjoy spending my time in my architecture class. I have learned to create, innovate, use computer software's, draft, 3d print, and laser cut materials. Recently I have been working for 9 weeks on this project trying to conduct information on wood, architecture, symbolism, and memorials. For this project I was given certain design situations and challenges to accomplish creating a memorial. This memorial was created to honor the lives tragically lost due to the Salem witch trails. Going into this project the main design material for the memorial is wood.

Research

Wood Research and Artifact

The main design material for this memorial is wood. Wood was a huge aspect of the Salem Witch trials because most of the buildings at that time were made from wood. I focused on the different aspects of wood and how it can be used to create a unique design. I learned about different stains and ways to incorporate multiple colors in wood. Also wood curvature is a unique and creative way that wood can be used in architecture. I also found that wood can be burned to create an insulator for the wood particles while also having the ability to create designs. I also experimented with using wood in my classes tool shop. I used different tools on wood blocks to learn ow the tools can impact the design of wood. In my artifact I broke down every aspect of wood by creating groups on its usage in architecture, ways it can be altered, its influence on someone's health, the importance of wood burning, and the break down of the rings.

Salem Witch Trial Research and Artifact

In my artifact about the Salem Witch Trials I had used my research on the topic to create a visual aspect of how I viewed the event. The Salem Witch Trials happened in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The town contained only puritan people who followed their religious beliefs. Puritanism is a sect from Christianity. They constantly followed tradition by going to church and following the teachings of the bible. They had mixed government with their religion and this lead to the death of 25 innocent people who were accused of witch craft in the town of Salem. A hysteria outbreak reached the town causing people to believe that the devil had been in the town and certain people were following the devil. Almost the whole town was accusing other people of witchcraft and this led to the government taking the accused to jail and then taking them to a trial where if they didn't confess to the accusations then they would be sentenced to death. Most of the people who died were hung and other died while in jails and one man died being pressed by stones. These people were innocent and stuck by their faith the entire time that they were accused of performing witchcraft. This event ended once the judges wife was accused of witchery. This showed the flaws in the court system.

The artifact shows the connection between life and death. I included angles and the devil to represent the good and the evil of this event. The women in the artifact represents and innocent puritan women being hung to death and the devil is pulling the rope to represent the grasp that the people accusing others of witchcraft while also acting as if they are innocent and faithful. The women dancing in the circle represents the hysteria and the beginning stages of the events because these girls had accused other members of the town of witchery. The devil is right below them to represent the evil of their actions and the path that they are following. The church faces the women to show her innocents and the angles are above her to represent her path to heaven after death.

Site Analysis

This represents the research of the site that my memorial is going to be built on. It shows the placing of the trees and how many trees are on the site. It also shows the weather by including the annual temperature of Salem, the wind patterns, the seasons, and the sun path. The topography lines also help to learn about the elevations of the ground of the site. I also showed existing houses near the site to get a visual perspective of the site.

Design

Final Conceptual Drawings

Floor Plan

I conducted mulitple different designs using this site plan. I used this design of my memorial because it is creative and symbolic. The maze like path creates a felling of hysteria and the wood stumps that you encounter on the path represents the death of the innocent people of this event. The path leads to a chamber that ecos sound from pipes popping inside and out of the building. The chamber floors represents heaven and hell because one of the floors is dark and underground while the top floor is open, light, and airy. The designs drawn are all in a scale of 0'-16" = 1'-0".

Elevation

The elevation drawing is located on the long side of the site starting at proctor street and ending at pope street. The maze is made out of huge wooden dowels that shape to interoperate trees. The chamber is at the end of the maze and it has a wide opening for people to walk into the building.

Section

This is a drawing showing th inside of the chamber. I included a flame that shoots out of the building to represent the vision of hell and evil. The chamber goes underground and has an opening at the top of the chamber for the flame to escape into the air and the light reflects on mirrors that form a halo on the ring opening. The bottom floor also has a reflective black surface to add to the vision of hell.

Preliminary Designs

These designs are sketches of my vison of the memorial. I also included the stumps that act as lanterns from the light that is being burnt on top of the wood. I used these sketches to create the drawings above. These designs show my usage of wood and fire in my memorial.

Final Conceptual Model

Final Memorial Design

Final Premilitary Designs

Final Plan Drawings

I used my final concept design to create a detailed plan for my final design. I introduced a path that swerves around the trees mimicking the maze. The path starts from the south western end of the parking lot and it directs a path eastward while also curving in a northward direction. The trees create a cove effect so that it is difficult for the traveler on the path to view the complete structure of the maze. Once the guest meets the maze they are uncertain what direction to follow creating chaos. The trees work with the maze because the maze is boule off of plate forms that have tall wooden dowels reaching out of the platform. The tiny spaces in between the wooden dowels allows for the guest to view the other parts of the maze with curiosity. The wooden dowels create tree like shapes to bring on a biophilic style. The path after the chamber starts underground and leads up to the surface. Their are 25 steps that represent the 25 innocent lives that were taken during the Salem Witch Trials. The style of the stairs create a feeling of wisdom and knowledge. This is caused by the build up of chaos and the reflective chamber.

Site Plan

Elevation and Section

The section of the chamber shows a two story building. The first floor has an opening in the ceiling which brings in natural lighting along with the huge doorway cutout that allows flow in and out of the chamber. The center of the dome has a central flame that shoots from the bottom floor of the chamber into the sky. The flame is sealed by a clear thick material that forms around the flame in a circular shape. Around the clear material is a blend of metal and wood panels that are tightly knitted together in the bottom floor causing a reduction of light and they extend separating in the top floor which makes a tree like shape. The bottom floor of the chamber is underground and is led their by a set of stairs that float along the chamber walls in a semi curving motion. The stairs are different lengths and heights but are held up by ropes attached to the ceiling to appear like they are leading a path up to heaven.