Presencing the Cosmos Through Architecture of Place
A Cosmological Garden on the Great Plains of Colorado
Fremont Butte, Colorado
Fifth-Year Diploma Project
Fifth-Year Diploma Project
A cosmological garden is situated within the Great Plains of Colorado, next to the Fremont Butte. Its artifacts, a rainwater reservoir, observation tower, and series of seed vaults, embody the cosmos through a gathering of resources, of geometries, of atmospheres, and of natural phenomena, concurrently reminding humans of their
insignificance and providing points of reference for their
existence on earth.
The monumental rain reservoir bridges the horizon in dialogue with the nearby butte, its interior chamber generating revelatory moments through aperture and reflection. The array of seed vaults embed in the earth distributed across the site, the pyramidal roof of each intimate vessel holding the promise of growth. The observation tower reaches for the heavens as a beacon
on the landscape, elevating wanderers closer to the untouchable celestial realm. These spaces create an observatory for the interpretative and scientific systems of nature. Wind, rain, and celestial bodies intersect with narratives of human experience that span time and place, embodied in the architecture as a microcosm of natural phenomena and their relationship with humankind.
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The rainwater reservoir is a monumental space on the site, bridging the horizon between heaven and earth as it collects the precious resource of rain from the sky and stores the water. While the architecture straddles the ground plane above and below, visitors ambulate along the horizon line, a cultivated plane of human occupation. Passageways along the N-S axis draw visitors into compressed darkness and channel them across threshold of water before releasing them into a grand space. The pathway remains narrow however, a metal grated scaffold, the only bridge to the rain chamber, allows a visual expansion. Over the years, the framed path will be immersed as the water level rises.
The rainwater reservoir is a monumental space on the site, bridging the horizon between heaven and earth as it collects the precious resource of rain from the sky and stores the water. While the architecture straddles the ground plane above and below, visitors ambulate along the horizon line, a cultivated plane of human occupation. Passageways along the N-S axis draw visitors into compressed darkness and channel them across threshold of water before releasing them into a grand space. The pathway remains narrow however, a metal grated scaffold, the only bridge to the rain chamber, allows a visual expansion. Over the years, the framed path will be immersed as the water level rises.
The first forty-three seed vaults are arranged across the site, the tips of their roofs peeking above the field of milkweed, suggesting the presence of something buried. The pyramids project about eight feet, with the main vault room buried within the earth.
The rammed earth walls of the seed vaults embed in the earth, becoming a base for the pyramidal roof that pierces the ground like an emerging shoot in spring. The frame of the pyramid is enclosed by panels, with two pieces of the pyramidion folding down in a gesture towards the sky.
