Architecture, for me, culminates a vast array of skills and knowledge into one coherent system in which a building is ultimately produced. Architects have a great responsibility to shape the environments in which people will spend the large majority of their lives, and therefore importance must be placed on what best can be done to try to improve one’s quality of life. Ihave a big interest in how one interprets architecture and the psychological effects it can have on your brain. Your brain is the medium through which one experiences life and thus I feel that great prevalence should be put on how architecture can be used to improve this interaction. My final year project is a historical car museum set in the future where the use of the car has been eradicated due to modern transport technologies. This museum has an extensive array of all types of cars, each of which has a replica in one of the car towers available to drive. Situated on the now out of use M58 motorway, users are able to choose iconic cars from the past and race them on the empty roads. The experience of the museum itself followed research I did based on light’s effect on the brain as well as research on how to encourage movement and adventure. Creating a stark contrast in light and dark spaces coupled with open and enclosed spaces help to constantly provide new user experiences. I also designed the main route to come back on itself many times throughout the journey in order to create a large array of different user perspectives. This helps to create a sense of anticipation and therefore encourages adventure.
