This is our second and final of two design projects of the semester in this class; this was my final project of my undergraduate program. Unlike every project up until this point, we were allowed to choose almost every aspect of this design project; the only caveats we were given is that it had to be a commercial use and it had to be over 50,000 square feet in total floor area. With this idea in mind, I decided on a project I had in mind for years: a museum that would display people's last words. Unlike the prior design studios we were told to create a concept statement to drive our design and we were told to use the concept statement to drive our design over everything else, then the site forces we found, and finally any macro site forces. We had to design every aspect of the design but we were given a series of images to provide: a site plan, floor plans, elevations, two building sections, a detailed wall section, two structural details, two construction details, a 3D building section showcasing sustainable strategies, building performance data, and a series of photo-montaged renderings.

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I started on the project by deciding on a site. I chose a site in Tel Aviv, Israel for two reasons, one because it was located close to the area where the first documented set of last words were recorded and I was under the impression the climate would be very different from other areas I've designed in. I then conducted a site and typological investigation to gain information on Tel Aviv, the culture in Israel, local materials, significant buildings in the city, and other museums both in the city and internationally. I then created my program and set up both my bubble diagrams, square cutouts, and my matrix. After this research, I came up with my concept statement that I used to drive my design: Use light, mass, and materials to create a contemplative space that allows people to reflect on someone else’s last words. I then started the model-making phase, unlike prior model-making phases the goals of these four models was to depict a series of words that we could use to create architecture in our designs, The words i chose were light, ethereal, mass/weight, materials, and oppressive. We then created a series of storyboards corresponding with these models that showcased two diagrams we came up based on these models. We then conducted a second phase with two new models. The words I used were light, mass, materials, and reflection. I then created a second set of storyboards except this time we needed to provide an atmosphere study and a diagram. We then had a final model-making phase in which we made a final model and a final storyboard. This time created more diagrams, a final atmosphere model, two character sketches, and a set of rudimentary plans. By this point I had nailed down the idea for my building, which was to create a spiral-like building with 90 degree angle turns with each of the hallways between the 90 degree turns acting as a space for a single centuries' worth of last words in chronological order. One idea I was given from the final model-making phase was the idea of trying to create this idea of a light at the end of the tunnel at each 90 degree turn; I soon added contemplative spaces in each of the 90 degree turns to both break up the façade, add an emphasis at each of these turns, and to create this "light at the end of the tunnel" effect. I chose to stylize these contemplative spaces after an architectural style that would be popular in the upcoming century. We then shifted to specific elements, specifically the structure, the atmosphere, and the façade of the building. I developed this light at the end of the tunnel idea further, I designed the façade out of either a masonry material or concrete to emphasize the monumentality of the building and a tie into religion, which some of my classmates mentioned seeing in the last submission. I also came up with the concept for the displays on the interior, a series of nooks would split up the interior wall with smaller partitions protruding into the main circulation space. Each nook would contain three sentences, the person who said them, and the year they died. The design would progress from left to right with the first sentence occurring on the top left side of the first nook, the second would occur on the middle left, the third on the bottom left, the fourth on the top right, the fifth on the middle right, the sixth on the bottom right, the seventh on the top left of the second nook, etc. We then created another set of atmospheres, an exterior and interior character sketch, and some more developed plans. We then moved into design development where we laid out the specific programs spaces and started to put everything into one final drawing. I put my designs in but I soon changed my building's design as the main circulation spaces were way longer than they should be, to satisfy this issue I split longer centuries into seconds and thirds, adding more swirls to the building's spiral-like form. I added a second entrance in the courtyard of the building to give customers the choice of starting at the present day or starting from the first recorded sentence and moving to the present day. I also developed the design of the contemplative spaces further, changing them from circles to squares. I added mechanical spaces, my sustainable features, and other smaller spaces. I then started designing the site and I placed a series of exterior contemplative spaces. After creating and developing the final design, I started the post-production phase. I chose to create a motif emphasizing both the light at the end of the tunnel idea and the spiral-like design of the building.

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In terms of sustainable features, the major features are a large solar array and a series of shading devices that added monumentality to the façade, other systems are heavily insulated walls and the use of local building materials.