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     These are my designs for the Harmony House project. Our Residential II class did the Harmony House Project in the fall semester of 2012. I enjoyed doing this project, especially coming up with the concept for the project. My concept was "Peaks and Valleys".

                          DESIGN BRIEF                                       

 

 The concept for this Harmony House is “Peaks and Valleys”. The inspiration for this concept is taken from the novel “Esperanza Rising” by Pam Munoz Ryan.  In this novel, Esperanza is a young girl who faces many hardships. In the end, Esperanza rises above her hardships and finds a happy life, even though it is not the life she had originally expected.

     One way that Esperanza learns to “rise” is to think about the peaks and valleys of life. There will always be peaks and valleys for everyone. Esperanza is inspired when she looks at the mountains and sees the peaks, and when she learns to crochet the peaks and valleys pattern. She begins to realize that when you find yourself in a valley, there will always be a peak on its way. In the end Esperanza learns to concentrate on the peaks and let go of the valleys.

   Peaks and valleys will be found throughout this Harmony House design. They will be in fabrics, wall coverings, light fixtures and many other finishes throughout the space. There will be some chevron patterns used in fabrics and on the walls of the Sandwich Shop. Other more subtle peaks and valleys will be found in the wall coverings in the reception area and even in the light fixture for the reception area and common room.  When the residents of this Harmony House see these finishes, they will be reminded to concentrate on finding their peaks as well.

     The councilors at the Harmony House can use the novel “Esperanza Rising” as an educational tool when working with the residence. They can point out these “Peaks and Valleys” in the space so the residence can be inspired by them just as Esperanza was.  The councilors can also offer some classes in crochet to teach the peaks and valleys pattern to the residents. Crochet has often been described as a very relaxing skill and is also used by occupational therapists to help with fine motor skills. It will give the residence a sense of pride in making something that they can keep and use. The concept for this Harmony House will be incorporated as a useful learning tool.

     This is my Commercial II project for Fall 2012. My concept inspiration was "Historic clock Towers of the World". The project was to design a hotel that featured a restaurant and either a spa or a retail space. I designed a hotel that is located in Boston Ma. It features a spa with rooms for massages and facials.I used some old world details with modern traditional style.
     In looking at some of the clock tower inspirational images, I saw a great deal of atmospheric images on many clock faces. I  used some of these as features in the spa and restaurant. Here are some of my Sketch up images used in the project.

                                                    Harmony House Second Floor

   The second floor of my Harmony House will continue the theme of “Peaks and Valleys. The residents will see them in elements like a chevron rug in the common room, light fixtures and even in the décor of the resident bedrooms. Calming colors like blue and violet will be used in the common room. Slightly more vibrant colors will be used in the resident rooms and will have a design that can be appreciated by both girls and boys. Furniture selections will have a mid century modern theme which should appeal to most teens today.

                                                      Harmony House First Floor

    My Harmony House project will use a theme of”Peaks and Valleys” which has been adapted from the award winning novel Esperanza Rising By: Pam Munoz Ryan. In the novel, Esperanza is a young girl who experiences many hardships but learns to see that along with the valleys in life there are always peaks.

     This project will help the residents learn to recognize and appreciate the peaks in life and to persevere through the valleys. Part of this concept will also incorporate learning to see the grey that exists between the black and white experiences in everyone’s life.

     On the first floor, the sandwich shop will have a peaks and valleys theme on the walls and floor in shades of grey , white and black. It will also have some pops of bright blue (the most relaxing color).

     The resident entry of my Harmony House will be located in the back of the building as an attempt to get away from the busy city street located at the front.  The entrance will look like the front porch of an average American family home. This will emulate a feeling of home and family for the residents and guests of The Harmony House.

                                                                       Harmony House

     The Harmony House is a design project and competition sponsored by The Bienenstock Furniture Library. For this project, the client is a youth shelter called The Harmony House located in Seattle Washington. The shelter will target runaways aged 10-17. The facility will be a healing and rehabilitating environment whose goals are to provide security and stability to the residents both by providing social services and by offering an inspiring environment through the design of the space.

     The first floor of The Harmony House will house a sandwich shop where the residents will agree to work throughout their stay at the Harmony House. This experience will help to provide them with some work and business skills.

     The second floor will consist of six resident rooms with a common room for socialization, peer interaction and recreation. The common room will help provide a family atmosphere to the residents as part of their healing and rehabilitation.

                                                                                 Amy Wagner