My Spring semester studio project (a Junior level Interior Design studio class) entailed designing an assisted living facility in Panama Pacifico, Panama. It was intended as a two person project, but, when we were given the choice, I decided to do it on my own. I only have one semester left before I graduate, and each studio project I do is a chance to learn more about myself as a designer…my creativity, skills, and ability to successfully implement a concept from scratch. I enjoy teamwork to some degree, but I really wanted this opportunity to see if I could do it on my own (kind of…I had awesome instructors who provided plenty of guidance and support).
Cafe, which is accessible to the Panama Pacifico community as well as the residents, who can come here to get a snack, sip a cup of coffee, and socialize with neighbors & friends.
Here’s what I learned: collaboration is can be half the fun. Having a partner, with whom your design philosophy syncs, makes working together on a project fun and takes off a load of stress. You don’t have to lay awake at night agonizing over the fabric you chose for a pair of chairs or if painting the ceilings black is a crazy decision even if seemed totally rational at 8 AM. Hopefully your personalities balance one another enough that you can be honest with each other about your design choices, and you can keep each other in check when you get bogged down in minutia. When you start repeating yourself or fumbling over your words in your presentation or forget to talk about the single most important element of your concept, your partner can back you up. When you work alone, you have to do all that for yourself.
The West facing dining room on the second level has a roof top garden and stunning views of the Panama Pacifico landscape.
I enjoyed working by myself for the first part of the semester…researching assisted living and Panama, developing my concept, exploring all of the possibilities. By Spring Break, I was half crazed, knowing I would never ever finish the project as it was prescribed. I was determined that at the very least I would make as good of a presentation as I possibly could even if all the loose ends remained loose. The night before our final presentation, I stayed up till almost 2 AM assembling my material boards. My posters were (hopefully) sitting at the printer, to be picked up 10 minutes before the presentation began. I felt totally stressed out, completely exhausted, and I found myself wishing that I had a partner to share the misery with. I found myself thinking that maybe God was telling me to be a little more humble, that I wasn’t good enough to do it all by myself.
The Activity Center where the residents can watch tv, read, write, play board or card games or cook a meal to share together. Painting by Sarah Giannobile.
But, enough about that. I got it done. I made the presentation. I think it went well. I’m happy with how the design turned out, but there are always things I would do differently or change. I’m sure I’ll spend most of the summer reworking it for my portfolio and for use in my thesis.
My concept for the facility was connections…connecting the residents to the community, to each other, to the incredible natural environment of Panama, to their histories, and to their shared futures. I developed the architecture by using Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Language, heavily emphasizing access to natural light throughout the facility, hence the name Casa Luz. Through working on this project and the mentorship of my professor, I developed a true passion for the idea that we can improve people’s lives through good design. Putting intense thought and care into an assisted living facility, where people spend the last years of their lives, is just one way to do that, but a very gratifying and special way.
More perspective views of the project and the floor plans are in my Flickr stream if you’re interested.
