Re-Pattern

Abstract

RE-Pattern began as an architectural intervention for a Technologically-Addicted World. In an environment that is increasingly spent in a virtual world, the “real” environment is becoming bland and lifeless- simply a backdrop for a screen. RE-Pattern offers refuge to any person afflicted by this addiction; a chance to disconnect and rencounter their environment. To achieve a successful retreat experience, the building reacts intentionally to its site, takes advantage of biophilic patterns, and offers programmatic elements that seek to reconnect the users to their environment and to each other. By diagraming a rock-climber’s experience at the Red River Gorge, it was found that a similar pattern could be effective in eliciting the desired response in the architectural intervention (site and building response). RE-Pattern will offer a retreat experience for 40 people at a time at the Red River Gorge and will offer an outdoor-focused retreat for those who may not be comfortable with an outdoor adventure on their own. The retreat is for stays ranging in duration, and residents will engage in communal cooking and eating, guided outdoor activities, and physical interaction with the site, “hanging” and “climbing” architecturally on a sandstone cliff.