vertical studio with michael rotondi



For this Los Angeles Chinatown proposal, the infrastructure begins with analyzing haptic sensitivity and what spacial environments leave the biggest impression on our memory.


Looking inward towards my own spatial memory, the development for this project was based upon a place ever present in my Floridian childhood: Walt Disney World. Designed in a distinct collection of themed sectors, with vast exaggeration to captivate visitors, this amusement park served as my precedent for a spacial model of strong haptic engagement.


The program for this project was an incubator; a space designed to accelerate the growth and success of entrepreneurial companies through business-support resources.


The question then arises: is it possible to develop spacial conditions that stimulate our minds the way a child's imagination is triggered within a setting designed for them? The same way this particular amusement park had been developed to stimulate, inspire, and energize its visitors, was it possible to translate those same qualities and its effects into a working space? Is it possible to create spacial conditions that engage the mind it into hyper-creative capacities?



My conceptual studies for this incubator began with the sketches pictured above recreated from my childhood memories. Each row represents a different circulation sequence of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, one column for each themed sector of the park. These spacial conditions can be traced back to the theme park throughout its rides, restaurants, and interactive activities.


The images below illustrate the development of these 2D sketches into more substantial proposals for the desired spacial composition.



spacial vignetts



What evolved from these studies was an environment that imposed spatial awareness onto those experiencing the incubator's composition. Through extreme contrasts from one space to the next, the building aims to generate haptic sensibility and heightened awareness. Optimistically, the idea is that these effects on the incubator's users will eventually translate into different layers of their daily experiences, ultimately transforming even their most basic interactions with the world and with each other.


The image below illustrates the project's site map, which was developed through analyzing the neighborhood's interactions with the proposed site and its surroundings.

SECTION 1



SECTION 1



SECTION 1



FLOOR PLAN





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