Project Objective: Design a pavilion to be built on Ellis Island that celebrates the practice of Falun Dafa. The design should serve as a sanctuary for Falun Dafa's practitioners and should provide space for meditation, teaching, and self-reflection. Additional requirements include private staff rooms, a small kitchen, and an office.
The concept chosen for the proposed Falun Dafa pavilion is the lotus flower. In Eastern mythology, the lotus represents enlightenment and serves as a symbol of purity and rebirth. Elements and principles of the lotus flower will be present throughout the pavilion to remind its users of the ultimate goal of their spiritual practices and will further connect the pavilion back to Eastern traditions.
Floor Plan Development
*Reference Image
The pavilion's floor plan will resemble a lotus plant with the primary path representing the lotus stem and the pavilion's meditation balcony representing the lotus flower.
Primary Path Development
Being indoors will symbolize being underwater. It is not until reaching the outdoor meditation balcony (the flower) that one will rise out of life's muddy waters and reach enlightenment.
Hand Rendered Perspectives
Final grey-scale perspectives completed with ink and marker.
SketchUp Models
The use of SketchUp was permitted to aid in accurate hand rendering. The following models are unfinished and were purely created to be used as "skeletons" for the final design's renders.
Statement
The design is successful in that it provides practitioners with a space large enough to both teach and practice the exercises of Falun Dafa.
Bamboo, chosen for the pavilion’s roof, will serve as a symbol of being underneath life's “muddy waters”. Once arrived at the pavilion's meditation balcony, the bamboo ceiling will be removed, symbolizing reaching one’s personal enlightenment and “blooming” like the ancient symbol of the lotus. In addition, branching motifs present throughout the space will aid in occupant wayfinding and serve as an intuitive symbol and reminder of one’s personal path.