OBSERVATION DECK

Laurel Point

LACKAWANNA HERITAGE TRIAL

Project Type: Design Build

Location: Archbald, PA

SYNOPSIS

In conjunction with the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority, Marywood University’s School of Architecture and the students of the design build studio have analyzed, designed and constructed an observation deck deeply rooted in the historical context provided by the Gravity Slope Coal Colliery, the active railways of Archbald, and the invested citizens of the area ultimately defining the Laurel Street Trailhead.

2.2 ISOMETRIC DETAIL FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH

Project Type: Precedent Study

Location: Rochester, New York

Building

This work of Louis Kahn is one of his finest examples of architecture having transformative effects; not only through light and design, but theoretical understanding of space use as well. Unfinished aesthetics dematerialize spatial qualities, setting a stage for details and light. For the First Unitarian Church he critically looked at religion and the journey of followers searching for truth, and he regards this as a natural process that he depicts through his design. The main intent was to promote community and unite everyone at the heart of the building (sanctuary).

Main Spaces

- Sanctuary: centrally located, where the questioning occurs

- Classrooms: spaces around the sanctuary, originate from which the questions of Unitarianism were raised

- Ambulatory: wraps around the sanctuary, bridging it to the classrooms. It is a theological architectural promenade of learning, thought, questioning, and discovery.