PROJECT 3
Narrative
You have been selected to design a proposed non-denominational chapel located on the campus of Farmingdale State College. The College wants this to be a profoundly spiritual place that people of all faiths can worship and reflect on life’s events. The College believes this can be achieved by the creative use of light. The College has outlined a preliminary program that is listed below. A site has yet to selected on campus; the College is looking for guidance from the Architect. The building should be integrated into the fabric of the campus. The College explicitly requests the design not be symmetrical. The main chapel is mainly using afternoon light, the memorial chapel is mainly noon lighting, and the meditation chapel uses mainly morning light.
Function
Space
Circulation
Stories
FLOOR PLAN
SITE
I decided to place my chapel by the Great Lawn due to the ease of access by both foot and car. There is a lot of parking nearby, and that particular parking lot does not get ticketed by campus police, meaning that outside churchgoers can park there without fear of a ticket. The church will also be a focal point of the campus, as it can be seen from Broadhollow Road which borders campus. This would make a great beautification project for Farmingdale State College. The southmost chapel, the memorial chapel, will get direct sunlight at noon, which is why the scoops and roof were placed as they were. This will allow constant light to enter that particular room during the day. The western chapel, the main chapel, features scoops to corral light into the space, along with a large shell-like roof that allows the light to splay into the high ceiling. The eastern chapel, the meditation chapel, has sconces that direct light to the ceiling, as well as a large scoop on the roof to bounce sunlight back upwards inside. Most people tend to meditate in the morning, therefore from sunrise to noon there will be abundant light for the chapel.
SUN PATTERNS
AUTUMNAL EQUINOX
September 23rd, equal amount of night and day
WINTER SOLSTICE
December 21st, the day with the shortest amount of light
SPRING EQUINOX
March 21st, equal amount of night and day
VERNAL SOLSTICE
June 21st, the day with the most amount of light
RENDERINGS
SOUTHEAST
NORTHWEST
NORTHEAST
SOUTHWEST
ELEVATIONS
This is the South elevation of the church
This is the West elevation of the church
This is the North elevation of the church
This is the East elevation of the church
INTERIOR SPACES
MEDITATION CHAPEL
Since the sun rises in the East, the scoops are designed to pull light into the corner of the room. The roof scoop is designed to capture light and redirect it towards the ceiling.
MEDITATION CHAPEL 2
This is another view of the Meditation Chapel
MEMORIAL CHAPEL
Because of our latitude in New York, the sun is always coming in from the South, I decided to make the Memorial chapel face the South due to the fact that this room will be lit sunrise to sunset. The sconces are designed to capture the light and force it upwards to illuminate the ceiling. The scoop on the roof pushes the light down onto a suspended, thin cylinder which then reflects the light upwards as well.
MEMORIAL CHAPEL 2
This is another view of the chapel, without the second level of the roof.
MAIN CHAPEL
The Main chapel faces the West, so there is more afternoon lighting. The inverted cone of the roof funnels light into an orb surrounded by walls which allows light to bounce in different directions while still going upwards. The peculiar shape of the roof allows light to gravitate towards its tip, and the high ceiling gives the impression that there is a lighting source at the top.
MAIN CHAPEL 2
This picture not only shows the walled in orb, but also the wall scoops that allow light to bounce off of the interior walls.