Still Life

Zen Center

Atlanta, GA
Program: Zen Center

Georgia Tech, Studio III   

Instructor: Julie Kim 

How does architecture facilitate inward and outward looking?

Architecture lives in section.
Section lives in tectonics.

Site Plan: Critical Section

1/2” = 1’-0” Section Model

Qualitative Analysis: Liminal ZoneStarting with images of existing site conditions, a series of iterative studies were applied to derive a formal language from the feeling of the site. Relationships of light and dark inform a tectonic sense of light and heavy. Shadows become the poche embodying spaces of inward looking, while void supplies connection to the outside.
Thresholds The journey from outside world into the zen center is designed as a series of punctuations guided by formal gestures in section. The forms of the architecture lift, turn, compress, and expand, calibrating the position of the visitor’s body in relation to the architecture. 

Tectonic Language of Sacred Space
The critical section captures the transition between ordinary and sacred spaces. This procession occurs the first time one delves into practice, and repeats with increasing frequency as practice becomes part of ordinary life.

Meditation Space Visualization


Physical Model Light Study