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DREAMBRIDGE Dream-Arts Community Center
Angel K. Morgan visualizes a physical space in which her dream-arts curriculum could be implemented to its maximum potential. She created a floor plan and prototype model for "Dreambridge: A Dream-Arts Community Center." Functional, beautiful spaces were created in the 3/16" to 1’ scale model with the intention to facilitate the needs of the groups and individuals of all ages, in building the bridge between their dreams and waking lives.
The future students of Dreambridge will do this through many different forms of creative expression. Morgan describes her design choices, with influences from Anthroposophical architecture of Rudolf Steiner, straw bale building, sacred geometry, and Chinese blue glazed tile roofing. The elements of the floor plan, the rooms and their functions are explained. It was discovered that an invisible impression of a peace sign energizes the structure like a foundation stone. The selection of materials, artistic process, and choices and discoveries outlined along the way, led to the "birth" of an exciting idea that wants to manifest for the community on a human sized scale.
Table of Contents
- Background
- Design Choices
- Elements of the Floor Plan
- Unplanned Surprise Foundation
- Selecting the Materials
- Getting Messy
- Taking Shape
- Painting the Bones
- Finishing the First Room
- Forming Organs
- The "Ninth Month" Roofing Blues
- Transformation Recognition
- Enlightenment
- Discussion and Conclusion
Background
In collaboration with the development of a dream-arts curriculum, an innovative structure was calling to be born. I began to visualize the conception of a physical space in which this new curriculum could be implemented to its maximum potential. Drawing the first draft of a floor plan was my first acknowledgement of this conception. I had done so in a very lucid state of mind, quite open to what would flow onto the paper in the most natural way. I was on my way to creating a floor plan and prototype model for Dreambridge: A Dream-Arts Community Center.
I wanted to create spaces that would be both functional and beautiful, and to facilitate the needs of the groups and individuals of all ages in building the bridge between their dreams and waking lives. The future students of Dreambridge will do this through many different forms of creative expression. They will need to be in a setting that is intimate enough to feel supported in their work, but large enough for their environment to be inspiring and exciting to them. It would need to be equally inspirational to guest audiences and visiting members of the community.
Design Choices
The interdisciplinary skill of "dreambridging" requires the right kinds of spaces, and in order to draw them, I relied primarily on the three words that had guided me most when I was a Waldorf teacher: imagination, inspiration, and intuition (Steiner, 1963). The approach I took to design was originally inspired by the creative and organic, flowing nature of Anthroposophical architecture of Rudolf Steiner, who: conceived of the liberation of form as part of a much broader quest that would define the spiritual essence in modern existence. Free form and organic motifs in architecture were intended to contribute to an environment of healing in a technological age.
Architecture was both context and catalyst for a higher state of human development… Steiner stated in a lecture given in 1914: ‘And when we animate everything that presses, bears, and curves, that crafts surfaces and masters completed forms –we begin to live by opposing and playing with the forces that shape the world, and by creating art we explore fantasy and endless metamorphoses.’ (Brumfield, 1991, p.264)
I was also inspired by the versatility of straw bale building, which allows for beautiful, adaptable walls that "can be built to suit a variety of esthetics. From rounded and lumpy to straight and elegant, straw walls can take on many shapes and textures depending on how they are detailed.
Finishing choices are almost unlimited" (Magwood, Mack, & Ohi, 2000, p. 8). Another draw for me to the idea of working with straw bale in my design was the quiet, ambient aspect of the inside atmosphere in these structures (p. 8), as there would surely be multiple activities occurring at once that would require soundproofing between rooms. The environmentally friendly fact that straw bale walls save energy by requiring less heating and cooling was also attractive to me, and influenced my choice to design thick, circular and curved walls.
Elements of the Floor Plan
After it was drawn up, the floor plan contained these rooms: a central dream circle room, an art studio/classroom, four practice rooms, a store with dream-arts books and supplies and a reading area, an art gallery, a theater with a stage and screen, two bathrooms, the Director’s office, a front desk administration area, a financial office, a kitchen and eating area, and an outdoor sharing space with a fountain, pond, and fire pit.
For more information on the Dream-Arts Community Center click here to download the entire Word document.