:: colleen silva ::

buddhist temple project

model of temple with sky garden at top

This model for a Buddhist temple was created while still a student at CCA – both the program and the building are divided in two, separating the sacred activities from the profane: the pond on the roof serves to divide the garden space, the temple walls don't come into contact with the rest of the building, the silhouette of the Buddha on the left is to be seen at night from the exterior of the building through translucent concrete (LiTraCon), the image of the giant reclining Buddha in the center above is a low-relief lighted wall sculpture to be constructed of two concrete planes – the plane containing the figure is proud of the wall by 1.5", allowing a thin glow of light to illuminate it's edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

detail of feature window - actual size to be: 30’w x 3 stories tall

Conceived as a 3-story high, 30 foot wide, 5-panel feature window for the Buddhist Temple project mentioned above; the stripes alternate between opaque and transparent colors, clear textured glass and mirrored glass. Situated next to a staircase leading to the roof of a contemporary Buddhist temple –each stripe loosely represents the many different stages of life on the road to enlightenment, with occasional mirrored glass to bring the attention of the viewer back to him or herself.