The River's Edge

I created The River’s Edge so that students and others would have a place where they could study or relax with a calming sense around them. Most places that people go to for studying are meant to be dead silent, and many places for relaxation are extremely loud, both of which can be stressful for people. The River’s Edge provides the soft sound of running water with the feel of smooth stones to create the experience of being near a river. Quiet, but not silent, to be calming and a perfect place for study.

The River’s Edge is meant to look out of place, to not belong in the city, so I decided that the best shape for it would be a Yurt. It’s a small yurt, only big enough for a few people to be in at once, but it fits the purpose perfectly. Along the inside of the walls, small tracks built out of wood carry and drop water from one level to the next, spiraling around until it reaches the bottom, where the water drops into a small pool that, once again, circles around the inside of the walls. Once the water reaches the end of the pool, there would be two drains. One that pulls the water back up to the top of the system, and a second that connects to the city’s pipes in the event that the yurt took in too much water.

On the roof, there would be a glass dome at the apex that would allow for natural light to enter, as well as spiraling grooves to let rainwater into the system. In the pool at the bottom of the system, we would have sensors to tell when the water level gets too high. When it does, the second drain opens and releases water until the levels are maintainable again.

The original design has multiple of these same Yurts on one cement platform. This platform is meant to be shaped like the state the Yurts are built in so that it can act as an enlarged map of that state’s rivers and waterways. Preferably, there would be grooves drilled into the map to represent such waterways that would then be filled with a tough resin to keep the platform flat and stable. This way, the Yurts can be placed in any state and people can learn even if they don’t enter the Yurts themselves. Here, I placed six Yurts on a 104’x58’ rectangle, though this could easily be made smaller by lessening the space between the buildings or removing some Yurts.

The River’s Edge is meant to be placed in a city or town, preferably near schools. For this example, I chose the Lincoln East High School (Nebraska) to be the home. It would take the place of the portable classrooms, which the school is planning to remove anyways. Because of the design, it can be placed nearly anywhere and still serve its original purpose.

The original design has multiple of these same Yurts on one cement platform. This platform is meant to be shaped like the state the Yurts are built in so that it can act as an enlarged map of that state’s rivers and waterways. Preferably, there would be grooves drilled into the map to represent such waterways that would then be filled with a tough resin to keep the platform flat and stable. This way, the Yurts can be placed in any state and people can learn even if they don’t enter the Yurts themselves. Here, I placed six Yurts on a 104’x58’ rectangle, though this could be made smaller by lessening the space between the buildings.

In Conclusion, The River's Edge is a small, enclosed space designed to make people feel comfortable and relaxed. It would be effective for students as a place to study with the soft sound of flowing water all around them. It would usually be placed near schools or in other public places for the greatest access, and it would rest on a platform made to look like the state that it is in, so that all may learn even without entering.