How can a new school of architecture collaborate with and contribute to a culturally diverse community while providing an innovative and globally competitive education?
The School of Architecture
Like the brain's two functional hemispheres, the divisions of activities are, on one hand, logical and systematic, concerned with matters as they are; on the other, highly developed spatial abilities, image communication, intuitive and imaginative, concerned with emotions and feelings. True creativity springs from a rapid interplay between our two hemispheres.
Like the First Nations' Circle of Life, sharing the principle that life is a circle, with North, South, East and West, Mother Earth being down and Father Sky above, for a total of six directions. The school, like the wheel of protection enables surrounding energies to enter a focal point to commune with Spirit, Self and Nature, all elemental forces of Creation.
Architecture too must ''Walk Lightly on the Earth'', ''Mitakuye Oyasin'' as in the North
American Lakota Indian prayer, which translates to: ''We are all related in the Circle of
Life... all living and growing things upon the earth''.
Imaginative and efficient production and use of energy for lighting, heating, cooling and operations must be one of the prime considerations in the ultimate design of NOSOA. For consideration, among others, are:
- Ground source heat pump systems
- Solar panels forming some of the building fabric
- Snow stored from the winter could provide some assistance in building cooling
- LED lighting, daylight harvesting and other innovative systems and controls
- Efficient opportunity to hook into the Sudbury Energy Plant, by its proximity
Like Yin-Yang, acknowledges the interaction of the two energies of our bi-hemispheric intellect and bi-lingual nation ''providing a dual stream education'' and offering, as attributed to the symbol, a sense of the continual movements and happenings of these two energies, just as things expand and contract, and temperature changes between hot and cold.
Like the golden mean, according to Aristotle, is the desirable middle between two extremes. Architecture, like beauty, as attributed to the ancient Greeks has three ingredients: symmetry, proportion and harmony.
This triad of principles infuses architecture and is judged by them. Metaphorically, the triangular elements of the geodesic dome that distributes the stresses across the entire structure, celebrates this triad.
The School
Is proposed to be complemented with the long range construction of the Performing Arts
Centre and The Art Gallery of Sudbury, enclosed within the domes of triangular structural elements - a trio of ''ECOspheres'' located in a 6 acre park setting and clad in flexible solar paneled skins, which charge the glowing internal LED lighting, creating dynamic landmarks within the City's urban core.
Each has three levels:
One - entrances, service parking and utilities
Two - functional spaces reflecting the needs of the school, the art gallery in another, and the performing arts centre in the third, all integrated as a dual stream bi-lingual educational, cultural and performance centre
Three - Circle of Life Laboratory, in each of the three spheres an interactive, multi-tiered roof garden consisting of boreal forest ecology, exploring and showcasing design solutions for the four-season northern Ontario ecosystem. Solar, geothermal and other technologies will pursue the design principles of ''bio-mimicry - the emulation of nature and its ecosystems to create sustainable human systems''.
Asking the question:
''Can we design a city more like a forest?''
The landscape will appear as an oasis within the downtown precinct, including infusions of conifers for 4-season greening, water sounds and features emerging from the earth and rock of the pre-Cambrian geography, the sounds of the wind activating many flags and banners, and perhaps even small-scale wind generators to enhance the sustainability of the complex.
The Location
Central within the downtown brown fields of the CPR yards, as defined by the 1887 registered subdivision of the historic community and adjacent to the city's central heating plant. NOSOA here, within an urban park setting, links the two halves of this historic urban settlement with a cable-stayed, 70 ft. Wide pedestrian bridge directly into the downtown core. With its 200 ft. High night-lit pylon and cable links, a major destination/ public art place-maker is created. Dedicated transit paths to other community resource centres supplement walking links to the complex.
(Competitor's text)
10 scanned / 4 viewable
- Presentation Panel
- Presentation Panel
- Perspective
- Plan
