This was a student project by Zhiguo Chen for Bart Overly's LARCH 754 course, Spring 2008. Project statement: The main idea of this design is to intensify different experiences of driving-through a given intersection. To address this, a south-north Central Garden is set on the ground, and an east-west Garden in the Air is attached to the double-skin mega-structure. One important design element in the Central Garden is tree-trunk-like supporting structures connecting the lifted highway with the ground. Several Boston ivy curtains are created to make the drive-through experience more colorful. The eastern and western piece of land is designed as unmaintained jungle to exaggerate the man-made Central Garden. The Garden in the Air is illustrated with a LED light art installation on the ceiling of the mega-structure. Using vehicle-detecting technology, the density of cars is tracked and translated into pixel images, and creates animations on the LED screen. Therefore, drivers not only drive through and experience the space, but also contribute to the art installation. This work is a part of the online collections of the Knowlton School of Architecture Student Archives, The Ohio State University.
