CommaRaderie

Evoking mystery in today's world is a challenge. Ready access to ideas in the palm of our hands makes us feel like there isn't anything left to discover. I think it's important to create mystery in our built world so we can wonder why. Or what? Libraries are a gateway to the answers. We have three major societal spaces: home, work, and community buildings. Of the three, it's the community buildings like libraries that are a a home away from home, warm and inviting, a communal gathering place.

My ideas for the Oregon City Library are a response to these feelings and to a unique and interesting architectural space. The wrap around clerestory glass lifts the roof off the box and fills the spaces with light during the day. The lights at night create a lantern effect, adding intrigue and an invitation to enter. I want to magnify those qualities. 

The ideas I'm presenting are an abstract, site specific response to the architecture and function of the building. I propose a cable tension sculpture that will relate to a frit pattern in the clerestory. My direction is to use the sculptural forms of punctuation to suggest ideas that are more than its parts or arrangement. 

The colorful, reflective qualities of the dichroic glass will project dynamic, kinetic patterns on the floor, ceiling and walls. As you move through the lobby, the sculpture creates a dimensional experience that changes depending on the weather and time of day. At night the work will add dramatic color flashes through the clerestory, adding to the lantern effect. The sculpture would be designed as an organic counter-point to complement the architecture. My aim is for viewers to experience and interpret the sculpture in different ways during repeated visits.