Submission 1 - Equus

The four designs below are to reside Terry, the park attendant and his wife Gloria. 

All four designs are situated in the Yellowstone National Park alongside a river. The client lives to feel part of the landscape, and doesn't like to 'stand out' from the forest. He uses his home as a retreat from the surrounding society and drama. The client feels a strong connection to nature which must be considered. I believe I have accomplished this by nestling a shelter into the landscape with surrounding and never ending views to the park. The client specifically doesn't want a large house or even any 'rooms' he just wants a place to eat, relax and clean.

All of the designs are hidden between two mountains, with a flat area between. In the first design, a plat form just above from the riverbed steps up to the flat area on the ground where the main shelter and bed lies. The shelter extrudes from the existing mountain looking natural and like it is supposed to be there. the first design is extremely simple but effective. The tower of this design is represented by the jetty over the river and mirror is represented by the glass floor reflecting the water beneath. 

Design 2 has a very similar shelter design, again coming out of the mountain. however, in this design, the tower or 'jetty' is more narrow and almost reaches the other side of the river, and the mirror is represented by circle glass windows on the jetty. The fire pit beside the bed provides warmth and something for terry to cook on. There is an outhouse out the back as there is in all other designs. 

My third design is my first handmade model. it begins with  several wooden planks of different lengths protruding from the mountain representing the new 'jetty' in a less obvious form. The planks form a flat surface over the river where the shelter lies. The small tent like structure provides only a place to sleep and eat, which is all Terry and Gloria want. it is protected by the trees and bushes behind the back wall. There are two long windows in the frond wall which provide view to the long river. There is room for a small fire area at the opening of the tent to provide warmth during the winter season.

The fourth and final design is the second model. Very similar to the first two, it consists of a shelter coming out of the mountains. This time there's no walls apart from the mountains to protect from wind and storms. this is why 3 long planks of timber are stacked on top of each other on the back of the shelter. In this design, the jetty is dislodged from the shelter but is still representing the tower idea, along with the mirror being represented by the water, reflecting Terry's interesting life.