Ship of the Desert
Nevada
A new community has been planned where the fringes of the Great Basin overlap the edge of the Mojave Desert. 'Colonization' will transform the desert landscape and climate. The information center and administrative office - Ship of the Desert - houses a theater/meeting room, an exhibit area, and staff and public spaces. It is a sail, a tent that flutters in the breeze; its stone promenade deck is illuminated by fire. It serves as a visual focus and creates a desert preserve and gateway facility.
Classroom, Laboratory,
Administration Building
California State Polytechnic
University, Pomona
Inevitably, human settlement alters the landscape. Successive habitation has altered the Pomona Valley from the original dry swept earth of Rancho San Jose. Now the verdant Arabian horse ranch of W.K.Kellogg coexists with the technological, superscale freeway interchange. The Cal Poly building is truly a gateway building, visible from the freeways, the local flight patterns, and across the entire Pomona Valley.
Mesa Public Library
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Located in the Jemez Mountains, the area is home to rich pine forests, grassy meadows, and dramatic rock formations. This alpine mesa has witnessed numerous settlements: Native Americans from nearby valleys had used the mesa for summer grazing and farming; late nineteenth century homesteaders established small ranches and farms there; the town was appropriated by the federal government during World War II to become the home of the Manhattan Project.
The library rests low, arcing in response to the panoramic views. A tall wedge, analogous to the nearby Tuff ridges, cuts through the building. Where the wedge intersects the building, a south facing courtyard serves as the main entry.
Social Sciences and
Humanities Building
University of California,
Davis
The University is in California's Central Valley, an area with a rich agricultural heritage. Watercourses carve through the surrounding fields. The building is an analogous composition: a curvilinear pedestrian route passes through the low-lying blocks of the buildings aligned with the campus and fields. These blocks form a base for upthrust, sloping pieces that house offices and afford distant views. These pieces are clad in metal and at times seem to dissolve into the sky.
