Manipulating the Ground Plane: Studio_1 Fall_2006 Professor_Benhamin Ibarra Sevilla

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The primary focus of this project was to refine and develop spatial concepts through manipulating the ground plane. Our site was located in a wooded area adjacent to the St. Johns University Campus in St. Cloud Minnesota. This location is a gathering place for students that is defined by a grove of Norway Pines. These trees were planted by the Abbey Monks to divide the field into a series of outdoor rooms. Early iterative diagrams of the site helped me discover the geometries of the site. The trees quickly became the dominate spatial drivers.

After the spatial sequence of the site was fully understood. A series of study models were made to analyze manipulations to the ground plane. I decided that the ground plane should contrast the pronounced vertical elements of the trees. Each step up of earth and pavers subtly defines its edge in the field. Platforms of gathering and reflection stride across the landscape, interacting with the trees. Each platform grows out of the earth and is covered in grass and an indiscriminate border of granite pavers.