The elements of variety: as studied through the design of a community learning center

Abstract

Each new program carries a set of inherent issues which must influence the choice, exploration and manifestation of a thesis. Some issues contributing to design include questions of the physical and social site as well as of the particular programme.

Distinctions within design are frequently linked to social or political arrangements, creating a diagram from which architectural issues are later distilled . A tectonic exploration which remains between these diagramatic parameters allows the thesis to unfold without eliminating the original, visceral intentions.

The Richmond Community Learning Center was a competition project which became the vehicle for the study of a thesis . The ideas engendered by the conceptualized requirements of the proposed inhabitants led me to uncover a clear, essential question which I was able to examine at every level of the work.