RACA
—
Rock Art Center Addition
Petroglyph Gallery

Rock Art Center Addition

What do we do with this sacred place of memories? Sustained ambiguity as a weapon against the pursuit of facts.

Two demands for the additional gallery space of RACA (Rock Art Center Addition): A. REFLECTION (museum) or B. CONTINUATION (practice + addition). The current program and its stagnancy has left the site forgotten—it is a typical static museum on a living site. The site and addition must constantly change through the participation of people. The space will reflect the questions left by the petroglyphs of past cultures—a reminder of stories that we will never know and an act of creation to leave behind for others to reflect on.

Petroglyph Gallery

PROGRAM: Rock Art Center Addition

CONTEXT: Deer Valley, AZ, USA

SITE: Hedgpeth Hills Petroglyph Site

YEAR:
2010
AWARDS:
NEWS:
No items found.

Institutional

Landscape

Perspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logicPerspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logicPerspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logicPerspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logic

A center that collects and grows from the stories of others. The entrance reveals its own logic and faces directly at the existing visitor center.

Perspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logic
Perspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logic

PROJECT IMAGES

Exploded diagram of the RACA gallery showing the lower gallery spaces, the viewing deck, and the upper cladding systemExploded diagram of the RACA gallery showing the lower gallery spaces, the viewing deck, and the upper cladding systemExploded diagram of the RACA gallery showing the lower gallery spaces, the viewing deck, and the upper cladding systemExploded diagram of the RACA gallery showing the lower gallery spaces, the viewing deck, and the upper cladding system
Perspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logicPerspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logicPerspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logicPerspective of the front entry to the RACA gallery at night showing the upper viewing deck and the structural logic
Series of study sketches of a RACA gallery that slopes toward the desert landscape and shields from the adjacent suburbsSeries of study sketches of a RACA gallery that slopes toward the desert landscape and shields from the adjacent suburbsSeries of study sketches of a RACA gallery that slopes toward the desert landscape and shields from the adjacent suburbsSeries of study sketches of a RACA gallery that slopes toward the desert landscape and shields from the adjacent suburbs
Perspective of the desert wash landscape with visitor trail in front of the glowing RACA gallery extension at nightPerspective of the desert wash landscape with visitor trail in front of the glowing RACA gallery extension at nightPerspective of the desert wash landscape with visitor trail in front of the glowing RACA gallery extension at nightPerspective of the desert wash landscape with visitor trail in front of the glowing RACA gallery extension at night
Study model of a floating RACA gallery mass floating above the existing visitor center with a skin made of shifting symbolsStudy model of a floating RACA gallery mass floating above the existing visitor center with a skin made of shifting symbolsStudy model of a floating RACA gallery mass floating above the existing visitor center with a skin made of shifting symbolsStudy model of a floating RACA gallery mass floating above the existing visitor center with a skin made of shifting symbols
Perspective of the main interior gallery space of the RACA addition with layered panels sloping to the desert landscapePerspective of the main interior gallery space of the RACA addition with layered panels sloping to the desert landscapePerspective of the main interior gallery space of the RACA addition with layered panels sloping to the desert landscapePerspective of the main interior gallery space of the RACA addition with layered panels sloping to the desert landscape
Site plan illustration showing the encroaching relationship between the adjacent community and the petroglyph RACA siteSite plan illustration showing the encroaching relationship between the adjacent community and the petroglyph RACA siteSite plan illustration showing the encroaching relationship between the adjacent community and the petroglyph RACA siteSite plan illustration showing the encroaching relationship between the adjacent community and the petroglyph RACA site
Concept sketch studying the relationship between the structure, the gallery, and the external path of the RACA additionConcept sketch studying the relationship between the structure, the gallery, and the external path of the RACA additionConcept sketch studying the relationship between the structure, the gallery, and the external path of the RACA additionConcept sketch studying the relationship between the structure, the gallery, and the external path of the RACA addition
Perspective of the wash between the RACA addition and the petroglyph mound and trailPerspective of the wash between the RACA addition and the petroglyph mound and trailPerspective of the wash between the RACA addition and the petroglyph mound and trailPerspective of the wash between the RACA addition and the petroglyph mound and trail
Satellite image of the RACA site illustrating the city of Phoenix as a landscape of carved symbolsSatellite image of the RACA site illustrating the city of Phoenix as a landscape of carved symbolsSatellite image of the RACA site illustrating the city of Phoenix as a landscape of carved symbolsSatellite image of the RACA site illustrating the city of Phoenix as a landscape of carved symbols
Exterior perspective of the RACA gallery opening up to the desert landscape for a nighttime performanceExterior perspective of the RACA gallery opening up to the desert landscape for a nighttime performanceExterior perspective of the RACA gallery opening up to the desert landscape for a nighttime performanceExterior perspective of the RACA gallery opening up to the desert landscape for a nighttime performance
Animation of the various layers of structural logics and visitor paths through the new RACA gallery and studio additionAnimation of the various layers of structural logics and visitor paths through the new RACA gallery and studio additionAnimation of the various layers of structural logics and visitor paths through the new RACA gallery and studio additionAnimation of the various layers of structural logics and visitor paths through the new RACA gallery and studio addition
Series of sketch studies of the extended RACA gallery spaces spreading into the landscape from the central washSeries of sketch studies of the extended RACA gallery spaces spreading into the landscape from the central washSeries of sketch studies of the extended RACA gallery spaces spreading into the landscape from the central washSeries of sketch studies of the extended RACA gallery spaces spreading into the landscape from the central wash
Perspective looking at attached visitor path along the top of the RACA gallery for public participation in leaving carvingsPerspective looking at attached visitor path along the top of the RACA gallery for public participation in leaving carvingsPerspective looking at attached visitor path along the top of the RACA gallery for public participation in leaving carvingsPerspective looking at attached visitor path along the top of the RACA gallery for public participation in leaving carvings

MORE PROJECTS

Seating design is vital in fostering communal interactions in shared spaces. Rooted in the organic growth principles of the Metabolist movement and the transformational geometric language of digital Metaballs, Meta-Bench forms an experiential seating system which individuals can move and adjust.
Framework: Inverted Square Pyramid (FW:ISP) reimagines the traditional pyramid by flipping it upside down, shifting its focus from the cosmos to the people. The structure’s apexes become seating points within a flexible, interactive framework that encourages public engagement and play.
The Urban Test Object (UTO) serves as a large-scale intervention that accelerates our relationship with the future city. Rather than solving issues like density, infrastructure, or access, the UTO heightens awareness of the rapid urban transformations shaping our future.
Seeing Park Avenue as an underutilized zone that connects four vibrant neighborhoods from 42nd Street to 144th Street, Infrastructural Infill is a study testing the potential to locate a combination of mixed-use housing and transportation in the residual spaces caused by urban infrastructure.
QTCT is tasked to blend these two identities onto one site—a give and take relationship between beach ambitions and urban necessities. QTCT is a sampling of two worlds: on one hand it is the embodiment of the language of the beach and on the other it is a detailed and exacting built urban space.
The CART live/work housing prototype adds a vertical profile to downtown while converting an underutilized public path into an urban gesture by introducing of a specialized food cart zone in New Haven. The CART residents would rent and appropriate the moving space as a means of expanding their zone.
The YELE music studio competition, underway before the earthquake, must respond now, but plan for the future of the community. Music is relief in a time of tragedy. The goal is to meet the most basic survival needs now while leaving spaces for future growth through self sustaining phases.
In Tempe there are two pedestrian axes: Mill Avenue and Palm Walk. Mill Avenue is successful and Palm Walk is not. Is there a way to make the palm trees useful to the students? The PEP structure is powered by buried hydraulic pressure systems giving vertical movement to the layer/palm interface.