Situated at the Southern tip of Roosevelt Island’s loop roadway, the Four Freedoms Foundation Museum is envisioned as a defining transition between the educational and residential neighborhoods to the north and the public recreational and cultural amenities to the North of the island.
The island has been historically used for its seclusion, to serve as a place of isolation and desolation, in the form of an asylum, a prison and a refuge for smallpox patients. Today, the island has opened itself up to educational, cultural and residential uses, and therefore, bringing about the opportunity to pay homage to the principles of the Four Freedoms, as dictated by Franklin D Roosevelt. The Four Freedoms are as follows: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom of Want and Freedom of Fear.
This project intends to ignite the spirit of freedom within the visitors and guide them through the four freedoms in a ceremonial and sequential journey, which is informed and led through pockets of natural light.
Natural light plays a vital role in the visual perception of spaces. In a museum, the quality of light and visual perception is at the forefront of a visitor's experience. Therefore, this project experiments with the impression that natural light adds to the museum experience.
The dynamic nature of daylighting can be anywhere from serene and calm to ethereal and invigorating, depending on the weather, time, or season. Spaces that can transform the quality and experience of the exhibition make each visit unique and distinct from the rest.
In the context of the program, the four freedoms are further re-interpreted with a new perspective, to complement the needs of a new age where freedom is of the individual and the collective, and therefore, each essential freedom is essential to the next as the collective is composed of several individuals.
The primary entrance to the building is at grade, via the foundation hall, which includes the main lobby and building reception, leading the visitor to public programs such as the gift shop and cafe, the latter of which extends outside to the exterior of the building.
the user may then step down to the gallery of fear, embarking upon the journey of the four freedoms. the gallery of the freedom from fear embodies sanctuary and protection, occupying the level below ground, tucked away in the bowels of the building.
natural light seeps through a shaft that is concealed from direct view of the level above. the light will provide a domineering effect to the statuary placed right below the shaft, creating a desired effect of light and shadow.
a second shaft continues to provide sunlight to the gallery space.
the journey continues to the gallery of the freedom of want, with the central interpretation of the gallery thought of as abundance and growth.
this notion of abundance and growth is realized by the presence of foliage that adorn the exterior gallery of the freedom from want. The user is drawn to the exterior gallery by the exposure to daylight, brought forth by the long aperture.
the staircase LEADS THE USER DIRECTLY TO THE GROUND LEVEL, SHELTERED BY TREES AND SHRUBBERY. natural light, once more plays a vital role in illuminating the sculptures and artworks placed in this exterior gallery.
taking the interior staircase to the first level gallery of the freedom of speech, the user would find themselves in a space where the notion of whispers and echoes take the form of the reflection of light. southern daylight enters the gallery through a long aperture, with the sun bouncing off the artworks on the wall.
taking the stairs to the second floor, the user would find themselves in the fourth gallery: the gallery of the freedom of worship, a space that embodies enlightenment and self-reflection of the individual.
the aperture at the farthest corner brings in diffused daylight to the gallery. this aperture is the highest point of the building and provides a vantage view to look over the waters of the east river.
(ref to functional organization)
if the user would have stepped up the stairs to the second floor, they would enter the fine dining and bar, where they would encounter the splendid horizon of queens, one of the 5 boroughs of New York city.
the galvanized aluminum mesh panels provide a sense of privacy while retaining the view from the interior space.
