Weightlessness Of The Crystal Lake Pavilion
Located in the West Catskills of New York state is the 497-acre Crystal Lake Wild Forest which includes a 32-acre man-made lake, seeps and streams, wetlands and an old beaver pond. The lake shore and surrounding moist woodland provide habitats for trilliums, wild leeks, Jack-in-the-pulpits and Dutchman's britches. The lake is surrounded by rolling hills (highest elevation 1,980 feet), quite steep along its eastern shore. The ecology of the forest is home to hundreds of types of indigenous species of planets, flowers and trees as well as wildlife and insects unique to the region of the west Catskills.
Weightlessness Towards Optical Illusion
Located here, the Crystal Lake Pavilion appears to be floating over the lake surface while reflecting its triangulated roof presenting an optical illusion of weightlessness, designed to be used for meditation and yoga classes as well as group therapy. The pavilion is a site-specific work, embracing the surrounding natural environment through its all glass skin and structural transparency. Accessible only by boat, the construction of the pavilion is an all timber frame structure with light steel connections and a standing seam steel roof.
Utilising a traditional King Post method of timber construction, the building is composed of a series of heavy timbers joined together with lap joints and pegged mortise and tenon joints. The dominant structural feature of the pavilion is the building’s center post which cantilevers off a single solid concrete pier set into the lake bed.
About Marc Thorpe Design
Marc Thorpe Design was founded in 2010 by architect and industrial designer Marc Thorpe. Thorpe is known internationally for his innovative and dynamic work, taking a rigorous approach to the integration of architecture, design and hand Craftsmanship. The studio conceptualizes design while embracing process and has the resources to produce consistent communication platforms. These include architecture, interior design, graphic design, furniture design, product design, retail and exhibit design.
The studio designs relationships. The focus of Marc Thorpe Design is in the systemic intersections a project presents. In order to discover a project’s potential, the studio works closely with clients and collaborators to foster new ideas, establish common vision and innovative strategies of approach to nurture the design process. The results are design solutions with the highest degree of precision, quality and character.
The studio offers itself as an open system of exchange. Thorpe has dedicated the studio to the research, professional practice and education of systems thinking through the discipline of architecture and design. Thorpe states, “We believe in a holistic design approach, which engages the social components of space and form.”
Architects: Marc Thorpe Design
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