Site - The South Street Power Plant: the site for the fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium. I used this brick building as a shell to contain the aquarium that I designed to showcase the wildlife of Rhode Island's bay ecosystem.
Atrium - A man in the atrium waves to a woman and child on the second floor. Further on, a woman points to seagulls flying in the third floor aviary. The original brick wall and arch windows of the power plant remain off to the left. In the foreground a mother pushes a stroller up a ramp with her young daughter close behind. They'll walk across a bridge over the waterfall catch basin on their way to the cylindrical glass elevator.
Concept drawings for fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium.
Hall of jellies - A woman sits under an overhead tank of schooling menhaden while children play in the pools of light cast by more overhead tanks of comb jellies. Further on, visitors stand in line for the theater.
Concept drawings for fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium.
Main tank - A young visitor, after having just come through a forest of cylindrical comb jelly tanks (the same tanks that cast the pools of light on the first floor), stands awestruck in front of the imposing main ocean tank.
Concept drawings for fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium.
Main tank - Digital concept drawing of the main ocean tank in the fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium.
Aviary - A father and his child walk along the river tank in the aviary, watching fish swimming alongside them. Behind them an artist sketches the indoor landscape and further on, a pier stretches over the ocean tank. On the "shore", visitors explore "tide pools".
Concept drawings for fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium.
Cross-sections - Cross sections and floor plans for the entire aquarium inside the turbine hall of the power plant.
Top row, cross-sections from left to right:
View from south side, view from middle looking north, view from north side.
From top to bottom:
Side view from east, middle-cross-section view from east, top floor plan, middle floor plan, ground floor plan.
Interpretation: Introduction - I chose the striped bass as a navigational icon for visitors to follow through the aquarium as the environment changes from lake to river to ocean. This style of interpretation provides continuity and flow for the path through the aquarium and simultaneously illustrates an aspect of the anadromous fish life cycle. The signs would be made from reverse-printed frosted glass, mounted on spacers to appear as if floating in front of the concrete walls.
Interpretation: Lake - The next encounter visitors have with the striped bass interpretive signage is at the entrance to the lake portion of the aquarium.
Interpretation: River - Striped bass interpretive signage greets aquarium visitors again at the river and explains the importance of the river in the life cycle of the anadromous fish.
Interpretation: Ocean - The striped bass interpretative signage ultimately leads aquarium visitors to the ocean, the end of the striper's journey.
Inspiration - Inspirational objects from Rhode Island's shore to evoke the feel I wanted to generate in my design of the fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium.
Research - I arranged cards featuring plants and animals native to Narragansett Bay to decide the layout and path through the aquarium.
Idea board - Ideation sketches, inspirational photographs, and research aids for the fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium design project.
Striper wall hanging - Shiny silhouettes of the striped bass, the Rhode Island state fish, hang on monofilament in a wall hanging to inspire the design of the fictional Narragansett Bay Aquarium.
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Aquarium Design