The key task for this project was to essentially flip the rotation of the sun and make it as if the researchers wake up from the light of the sunset and go to bed from the light of the sunrise. Looking at the photo above on the top left of the quadrant, I designed the living space of these researchers to do just that. As the sun sets in the west, (right of the photo) light filters through the roof condition to wake the inhabitant. Throughout the day however, the light does not enter the room giving the illusion of night.

 

In order to adapt to the hot, dry climate of the desert, I looked at the animals of the desert and how the live in their homes. Most of them burrow themselves underground to stay cool; which is was the intention for the hallways between the work and living space (image: top-right).

 

The image on the bottom left of the quadrant is a section cut of the underground hallway. The intention for the reflecting pool and the parallel, narrow skylight that navigates throughout the hallway was to pay homage to the astronomers of old who would generate their maps of the stars by a similar technique of looking into the pool of still water and seeing the reflection of the stars within the pool.

 

The image on the bottom right is a photo of the work space which has a similar function of the living space. Inversely, the only light coming into the space is the light from the east at sunrise, to signify the end of their work day.

 

Finally, the image at the bottom of the page is a section cut of the entire complex. It shows the flow between the different spaces, and how all of the different areas are buried into to the ground even the slightest bit to control the climate throughout.