Perspective

Abstract

This project seeks to explore the ways in which architecture can be used to influence the perception of those that experience it, in terms of both themselves and their place within the universe. Through a careful selection of views, material choices, and lighting strategies;this project aims to guide the inhabitants journey of self-reflection, bothinternally and externally.Perception is a retreat designed to explore how architecture can influence self-perception and our understanding of place within the universe. Rooted in meditation and therapy, the project uses the seven Chakras and clinical therapy methods to shape spaces that promoteintrospection and personal growth. Set in the Rocky Mountains nearDenver, the retreat's design responds to the natural terrain, using views,light, and materials to guide self-reflection.Perception is a stay away retreat that focuses on meditationand therapy through a series of spaces that utilize the seven Chakrasas a base foundation for programing. This programming allows for eachof the spaces to relate to personal characteristics that when combinedwith the four main clinical therapy approaches provide spaces forpersonal exploration and growth.The thesis includes a master plan for the site and focuses ontwo key buildings that embody inward and outward reflection. One, ayoga studio inspired by the root chakra, fosters inner confidence andgrounding through controlled views. The other, a cluster of communaland individual rooms, uses spatial relationships and materiality toconnect individuals to their physical and spiritual surroundings.Located on a mountain side within the Rockies outside of Denver, Perception is able to incorporate the variety of elevations, slopes, and material composition present at the site in order to tailor each of the buildings forms to match the desired program and method of reflection. The goal is to create architecture that encourages reflection—both personal and collective—through thoughtful design rooted in nature and therapeutic practice.This thesis aims to develop a master plan of the site and set a series of foundational rules for future expansion and growth of the facility. Along with the master plan this thesis focuses on a detailed development of two buildings that represent the dichotomy of inward/outward self-reflection. The first building represents the root chakra through the program of a yoga studio that focuses on development of self sufficiency and confidence while encouraging an introspective reflection onto the practitioners place within the site through the controlled views out of the studio. The second building is a collection of rooms sized from the individual to the whole community that leverage light and materiality to alert the individual to their relation to the building envelope around them, both physically and spiritually. The goal of this project is to create a series of buildings that provide spaces that prompt the exploration of self reflection as both an individual and as a part of a whole through meditation and therapy