Precis

My thesis will focus on the interaction between individuals and the space they occupy, in this case, a hotel. I believe that the built environment should engage in dialogue with its occupants; they should respond to, as well as influence, one another. The architecture can influence people in many ways. It can manipulate the way they move through the space, the amount of light or air that is provided, and create a certain atmosphere. People can also create their own experience in a space by altering the lighting conditions or opening and closing doors and windows. I will amplify these options in my program.
The program, a hotel, inherently engages in repetition on both a logistical and physical level. That repetition contrasts with the transience and diversity of the people who move through and occupy the space. The systems the hotel employs (such as valet, maid service and check-in/check-out) and the rigidity of its layout (identical, stacked, numbered rooms) imply a place of static. The vigor and individuality of the guests who occupy the hotel for brief, staggered moments in time are what brings it to life. My program will seek to magnify the role that individuals play in the rooms they occupy, removing the identical quality that is found so often in this type of program.
Often, a hotel includes a bar as one of its amenities. The bar is the rebellious younger sibling to the hotel that houses it. The bar is where patrons leave their inhibitions behind and interact with strangers. In the daytime, when there are few patrons, the bar is relatively quiet and still, but in the evening hours, people come and bring it to life. The change is marked by the level of light, noise and temperature, by the atmosphere of interaction, and the movement of the bartenders and patrons.
The hotel will be situated on the far West side of Manhattan, in the northern part of the burgeoning Meatpacking District, and the southern part of West Chelsea. West Chelsea is quickly becoming one of the most coveted parts of the city for culture and entertainment. This growth is directly related to the imminent construction of the High Line. The High Line is an elevated steel and concrete structure that was built in the 1930s to accommodate freight trains transporting goods through Manhattan. In the 1950s, the demise of the High Line began and it was ultimately taken over by weeds- a moment of intervention between natural and artificial- as it stood vacant and unused. The structure is currently being revitalized and adapted as a public park. It will provide contrast to the loud, fast, artificial city that surrounds it by assuming a dramatically different stance, one of slow, thoughtful reflection, new vantage points, integration with the buildings and city it inhabits, and a place to experience a piece of Manhattan’s history. The building itself, 450 W. 14th Street is unique in that the High Line intersects its third and fourth stories, creating a void in the space between the building and the Highline, and again between the Highline and the street below. This intersection represents an opportunity to explore the relationship between movement and stillness, above and below, and indoors and outdoors.
I propose to create a space that is influences and is influenced by its inhabitants and its site. The architectural elements of the space will overlap, intersect and move in ways that allow them to be used for more than one purpose and to create more than one type of space. The movement of people along the High Line provides a continuously changing view for those who are inside the hotel. The hotel will mirror that movement and transformation for those on the High Line to look at.