Curiosity Aquarium - Final

I uploaded slides of my final presentation of Zebra Mussel Research Center + Skate park. As I mentioned before, this project is only a small part of the concept of the design of Filter Island, located on the east side of Chicago's Loop. The island consists of thousands of cells of wetland as a bio-filtration strategy. The Northern side of the island will be occupied by ten research centers, dedicated to different invasive species of North America. Each research center is supposed to be a hybrid of offices and labs with a community hub, such as a bike center, hydroponic restaurant, yoga center, etc.

The invasive species of my interest were Zebra mussels, tiny freshwater mussels from the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. The research center will be combined with a skate park. Presentation slides will explain the rest:

 

Curiosity Aquarium - Zebra Mussel Research Center (3)

A test I made for my final model - 1/3 of the skate park roof of the Zebra Mussel Research Center.

Zebra Mussels Research Center

New studio project I started working on - we are designing a filter island located on the east of Chicago's Loop; the island is represented by series of biological filter chambers, filtering water from Chicago River until it enters Lake Michigan. 

The Island will host research centers, each researching different invasive species in the Great Lakes. My center will be concentrated on researching Zebra Mussels. 

Here are some sketches for the concept development.

1. The fascinating fact about zebra mussels is their ability to stick to any type of surface. I decided to use that feature for the concept and "stick" my building to the island underwater.
2. The research center has to have a public function to it. I chose to add a skate park to the institution.

Together with the species choice we had to pick up a mythological hybrid and study the ways different creatures are coming together into one. While studying harpies, which have a pretty "mechanical" looking connection, I was inspired by my friend's analysis of inner connection and tried to analyze how these two, a woman and a bird are connected anatomically.
The skate park will be just a roof of the building, but the building will "breathe and see" through the sculptural hardscape of it.

I am inspired by sci-fi movies, where one can get to a secret lab or office only though a telephone booth. I want to place only the entries to the building exposed on the park, while the rest of the functions will be "hidden".

Bringing the lake through the building to the surface of the park.

Zebra mussels are famous for their filtration capability. I'd like to educate people about their good side and have a demonstration pool, where visitors can see a clear difference between a water before and after filter chamber.

Light to get into the labs through swimming and decorative pools.