The Obsidian Rig

A meditation enclosure evolved from the critical analysis of a hand crank

Year: 2023
Site: Yale School of Architecture

The Obsidian Rig began in Architectural Foundations, a studio built around play as a serious design tool rather than a trivial pursuit — each exercise intended to encourage risk-taking, imaginative methodologies, and trial and error as ways of uncovering new architectural possibilities.

The project is a meditation enclosure characterized by dark, moody aesthetics and engineered precision, evolved from a detailed and critical analysis of a found artifact — a hand crank — through meticulous measurement, orthographic drawing, and abstract compositional studies. Collage drawings, physical drawdel models, and layered line compositions gradually resolved into a sited building: a curved, timber-screened enclosure raised on a plinth over water, entered through a solid stone threshold and opening onto a sequence of daylit interior moments.

The final work carries the artifact's logic all the way through — plan, section, and model photography share the same obsidian, engineered darkness as the drawing studies that generated them.

Compilation of the hand crank artifact analysis: a collage drawing exploration, an initial orthographic drawing, and a layered line composition, alongside digital drawdel form-finding studies. — Collage Drawing Exploration / Initial Orthographic Drawing / Layered Line Composition

Four vertical panels documenting the abstract exploration process — movement, density, and two layered compositions derived from the hand crank artifact. — Abstract Exploration Process — movement, density, layering

Two large final abstract compositions in grayscale, layering circular and rectilinear forms derived from the hand crank's geometry. — Final Abstract Compositions

Ground floor plan of The Obsidian Rig rendered in a dark night palette, a curved sequence of enclosed rooms with circulation traced from the entry point through the building. — Ground Floor Plan

Dusk exterior rendering of The Obsidian Rig reflected in still water, with a figure seated at the entrance threshold beneath an overhanging concrete canopy. — Exterior Perspective, at dusk

Dark interior perspective looking down a corridor of vertical timber screens toward a silhouetted figure at the far end. — Interior Perspective

A building section paired with a small site elevation sketch, showing the enclosure's curved roof geometry over its plinth. — Section, with site elevation study

A large model photograph of the curved stone and timber enclosure alongside a grid of detail photographs of the same physical model. — Model Photography

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