Status: Competition Entry
Time: 2020
Type: Research Center
Location: Nevada, Las Vegas
Collaborators:
Ugur Bilir, Architect
Aysegul Albustanlı, CGI
Hyperloop Desert Campus
It was a design competition held by Young Architects Competition searching for a research centre of Hyperloop. Here you can read the report of our proposal named as AION:
‘The present always slips into the past and the future.’ This building is designed as a momentary portrayal of the timeless, unchanging, independent and perfect form in the amorphous natural environment to capture the present, which sits in relation to the past which developed it and the future which elaborates it.
The Research Center is protected from the burning desert sun by carefully placed solar panels, and this shade also generates energy for the whole campus. Its black pearl-like form will sparkle, and it helps visitors navigate easily in the vastness of the desert. From inside, everyone can see the ever-changing dance between the land and the sky.
Under this wooden structure cover, you can walk freely between buildings and levels. The arena and offices are placed on the sides of the reception area to welcome visitors with one big meeting moment in the middle of the shell. These masses are designed on different levels to allow interaction with the ground level. Visitors can also climb to the top of the arena and experience different views in this promenade.
On top of these masses, the tour and the museum are combined as a loop. Visitors experience the past that builds on top of the knowledge while they are touring the museum that opens up to the desert, and they seize the present moment that leads to the future dreams they have developed during the tour.
On the open side of the solar roof, there are spaces that require more privacy. The lab, which is raised from the ground like the hyperloop itself, turns its face to the northwest and up to the desert. Under the lab, the residential units floating on top of each other create terraces and semi-open sheltering places between them. Their view opens up to nature in between the rammed earth walls of the units, which adds true meaning to this panorama.
Planted levels, natural material selection as rammed earth, wood, and the shell covered with solar panels are some of the design choices made to support the sustainability of the building. The future starts when we learn from our history and apply it to our daily life. Like the hyperloop network, it’s all connected.