Schematic Design

The schematic design for the interpretive center presented in this thesis is based on four main ideas.

First, the design provides for the re-occupation of the canal site at the ancient river crossing at Land’s Ford. The nexus between the canal, the major lifting lock ruin, the ford and the river, provides a compelling intersection of physical landform, natural landscape, flora and fauna, historic artifacts and metaphysical being promoting the opportunity for an interpretive center that evokes vivid perceptions of place.

Second, the axial armature of the main island structure extends a line of influence along the Catawba River. The viewer is focused upriver towards the main Spider Lily pods and downriver looking south over the Catawba. In addition, open cross-axial vistas provide a dialogue between the structure, the river and the land.

Third, the site and building encourage the viewer to move through it. On site, a discovery path is maintained open, unobstructed and free to the public – same as the canal trail is open to the public today. The entrance element is an extension of the ancient crossing. A ramped bridge will take the viewer from the lifting lock, across the inner waterway and onto a plaza which sits up on a plinth above the ground surface. The bridge engages the main axis of the island structure and continues across the plaza to cross the outer waterway onto an adjoining island. The bridge is terminated high above the Catawba as an open observation platform – it evokes the perception of “crossing” and terminates in the sky. The continuum of this openness, like the prow of a ship, is a metaphor for “timeless passage.” The platform is served by an open lattice monumental stair and elevator. Once back on the ground, the viewer can follow a path back across the outer waterway that leads onto the Riverwalk Gallery. This arching gallery contains exhibits and artifacts, and is an open platform which offers proximity and interaction with the islands edge and the river that meets it. The gallery terminates in a wooded landscape and provides uncontrolled movement through the grove of trees and onto a return path to the lifting lock and interpretive center entrance. Placed along the return path is a natural amphitheater cut into the topography of the landform and three outdoor pavilions for lecture and presentation. These too are open for public use and are functional separate from the interpretive center main structure. Within the building, controlled movement along a path establishes the axial parti of the plan. The entrance procession is through an open structure that begins the dialogue between indoor and outdoor space. Once through reception the viewer emerges within the main two-story gallery space, and is focused on a ramp ahead which ascends to the upper gallery at the other end of the building. The ramp and upper gallery are open to the exterior and are essentially unenclosed spaces. The path continues from the upper gallery, across an open walkway, back to the upper main gallery where a stair or elevator will take the viewer back to the first floor and main gallery. Adjacent the main gallery is an open courtyard that engages the site, provides access to the Riverwalk Gallery and allows access to the rest of the island beyond the interpretive center.

Lastly, landscape walls are employed as an element to knit the whole composition together and bind the canal and river with the island. The circular form of the walls and their massive presence engage the landscape and hold together the composition; the walls celebrate their intersection with the canal and bind it to the river.

Simple abstract forms, like canvas backdrops to a living painting, are used to set the architecture against the natural world. Like many things in the park, the building is a object which must be discovered by the viewer. Material is selected for its massiveness, permanence, and in its ability to show its age. Curved pre-cast concrete panels are erected to form the mass walls and provide texture against the earth. The panels are clad in copper sheeting and allowed to patina to the natural conditions. The patina copper affords the viewer a sign of age and signifies time in vivid color and pattern. Smooth cast-in-place floor, wall and roof panels make up the gallery volumes, ramps and bridges. Glass and metal is used in various locations to accent the mass concrete and enclose spaces behind a delicate screen.