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Saturday, April 28, 2012

April 28, 2012

Well, the final design day is almost upon us. I am in pretty good shape. A lot of things have been resolved in this past week. I still have to decide on the different materials that I will be using in my different paths and zones on either side of the tomb structures, figure out how to keep my underground are next to the chapel standing (structure), and the parking area I want to put in at the beginning of my addition.

Materiality:
I don't want to make drastic changes in materiality between zones, just enough to delineate the paths from the viewing areas and interstitial space between the tomb structures.  The interstitial spaces that happen between the two paths and the tomb structures will be some sort of grass with trees or vegetation.  I am considering putting a water feature in one but that will take some thinking to see which one will get it. I also want to continue the perpendicular line that will be a slight impression in the ground through the site and end it at one of the interstitial spaces but I'm not sure if I should keep the lowered line in just the interstitial spaces and viewing areas or through the paths as well. I'm going to draw both at a larger scale than I've been working in and see which I prefer.

Structure:
I'm not sure how to do this. That perpendicular line that is present on the top of the site will also be viewing from the underground space as a "beam". I don't think it's possible to make it a structural beam because it technically does not run in a path from vertical support to vertical support uninterrupted. The light well that runs through the edge of the space also causes problems because it basically separates the roof of the space from the one edge of supporting wall and ground. So this is going to take some finesse.  I don't want to put a series of columns in the space because I like that it is open and without interruption.  I could put a series of columns along the interior side of the light well to support the ceiling.  This might make that path too under the light well stand out too much and disrupt the constant line of light through the space. I can draw it and see.  Soooo as of now I'm not sure how to make this part of the cemetery stand up.  Any suggestions, or is the space small enough to support itself with just a flat slab?

Parking/ Entry:
As it is now, the two paths that line the tomb structures extend and turn into stairs with long treads that bring the visitors from the parking zone into the site and also the paths and lines that are created. The extension of the paths draws the visitors into the paths of circulation.  The parking area as it is designed now sits between the two elongated stairs.  I'm not sure how I feel about putting the parking area in the same axis or line as the tomb structures but I feel like it continues the language of occupied space contained by circulation and separated from the next occupied zone by grass. So if I think it about it as a zone and not a parking area I can accept it.  The parking area is rather small at this point.  I know there is another parking zone already created further up along the entry path so there is no need for too much parking but I don't want it to seem like a secondary area or part of the cemetery because it does not have the same large parking and entry that the rest of the cemetery has.  I think I just have to live with it because there's really no more space to make a parking area.

The narrative I plan to tell in my presentation is written and the final layout is done. It starts with the analyzing of the chapel, then moves into the site design and paths and entries, then goes to the larger scale drawings of the tomb structures and spaces of the cemetery, and ends with the detail drawings of the two different types of tomb structures.  Hope all turns out the way I envision it.

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