Radiation and Rotation

Seattle, WA, 2003

The site of this concept proposal is the main entrance to the University of Washington Hospital in Seattle, Washington. It is a level site with an automobile turnout for transporting patients and visitors. Approximately 75% of the site is covered by a planter that impedes pedestrian cross-flow. Large sliding glass doors connect the plaza to the hospital, gift shop, and café.

The primary goal of this proposal is to transform the plaza into a transitional connector between the hospital and the city, providing patients and visitors with a waiting area for transportation to and from the hospital. The plaza also functions as a setting for outdoor leisure and relaxation.

The concept narrative is based on patient recovery and rehabilitation. A boulder mist fountain, emitting a diffused red glow, sits at the center of the site and symbolizes injury or illness. A swale of grass unwinds from the fountain, evoking a continual progression toward recovery. Radiating walls represent significant thresholds in the recovery process.

The boulder mist fountain is the core element of the design. The boulders, acting as remnants of injury or illness, follow the swale of grass as it spirals outward. The boulders gradually diminish as they rotate away from the core. Concurrently, the swale of grass grows progressively taller and greener as it spirals outward. At one point, one of the projecting walls blocks the boulders from continuing, symbolically halting the remnants of injury or illness. Throughout the site, however, the walls allow the grass swale to pass through them. Ultimately, the swale of grass symbolically leads the patient to recovery—to a lushly planted, fully accessible area of the plaza.