Marriage of Pespectives

Site Informed Design

I collaborated with Alex Gerber for all processes of designing this Event Venue. Our design is an experience that emphasizes some of the most prominent views in Greenwood Park. In doing so, it promotes exploration between the Rose Garden, Mary Miss sculpture, and the Greenwood Pond and pays respect to the park itself. This project beautifies a previously underappreciated spot and unlocks a new park experience.

Through our initial site walks and experiences, we found a dramatic view through a tree archway located on the Rose Garden’s southwest end. We knew this view could be enhanced with architecture. Through this archway of trees is a rather unenthusiastic part of the park, filled with overgrown grass, weeds, and dead trees. While this spot is forgotten compared to the rest of the park, it does offer a gorgeous view of Greenwood Pond and the Mary Miss installation.

Site Mapping

The main elements we considered in our design include The Des Moines Art Center, Rose Garden, the trees creating an archway, and the Mary Miss installation over Greenwood Pond. Our venue’s relationship with the site improves circulation throughout the entire park to enhance the overall park experience. The venue’s location respects the park’s beautiful aspects while enhancing a neglected area. Siteinformed event venue makes a great addition to the beautiful Greenwood Park.

Analitical Overlay

The center point of our purposed building is the exact point at which these axes meet, and the Marriage of Perspectives occurs. Our main entrance starts at the south end of the Rose Garden, and an installed pathway travels through the archway of trees and to the building itself. It is oriented toward the pond, so when you enter the building, it leads you toward the view of the pond. Visitors arrive on the second floor of the building, and the axis of this pathway continues through the building.

Section Drawings

The path through the gateway of trees allows visitor’s view to zoom in towards our venue, and once inside, the architecture allows the view to zoom out towards the pond. They arrive on the second floor of the building, and the axis of this pathway continues through the building to the balcony, where you are greeted with a view of Mary Miss.

While the venue aligns with the pond view horizontally, it opens vertically much more dramatically as you look down towards an atrium-style event space and up toward a sloping roof.

Our venue is designed to enhance these two views through a new connection through the organic archway, which Marries the Perspectives, between the Rose Garden and the park’s southern end.