Christine Cheung Cal Poly Pomona Architecture Portfolio by ctinecheung

Christine Cheung Cal Poly Pomona Architecture Portfolio

CONTENT

CHARACTERS IN THE DESERT

WRITER’S RETREAT

Professor Wendy Gilmartin

CHARACTERS IN THE DESERT is an architectural representation of a writer’s retreat in the Mojave desert. This project focuses on developing representation to generate architecture.

Entering the desert is disorientating. Memories are fragmented and location is unimportant. I am interested in amplifying the qualities of the desert to create a state of mind that is unique to the desert in the writer’s retreat. ECSTASY, DELIRIUM, MORTALITY, and UNCANNY are the words that were evoked in my mind while I was on site. The process of representation involves translation between words and visualization. Each word represents a character.

(left) characters integrated composition

Written characteristics are translated into visualizations. Visualizations are composed then translated into architecture. The four characters are arranged in compositions of various relationships.

Writers will be transported into a different world when they cross the threshold into the writer’s retreat. Whether it is the world of the future or past or if this is reality, it is unclear. The retreat aims to design their life like how set design designs a character’s life. This set intends to alter the writer’s consciousness. By altering the writer’s mental state, their writing will also be freed.