Sensory Exploration
APDesign Interdisciplinary Design Charrette and Scholarship Competition, 2020
Second Prize Winning Team: Monserrat Rios-Lucia, Meredith Bryan, Aurora Wilson
Sensory Exploration looks to the future of Manhattan, Kansas-proposing a new urban park that connects to the city’s downtown and trail system. This new recreation park is envisioned to be heavily used by both the community and visitors to the city. The primary focus of this design is making a well-connected and accessible place for the community to utilize. Through the addition of a grand pedestrian bridge, the recreation site is directly accessible from downtown Manhattan. The bridge starts downtown and penetrates through the proposed Art Museum, allowing users to either pass-by or linger in the museum. This encourages more use of the facility. The bridge then ends on the main park space into a landing plaza. From here the visitor may walk to the main Recreation Center of choose to experience the entirety of the site. Wandering paths draws one throughout the park and encourage exploration. The park’s main feature is its five sensory gardens. Each garden is designed to target and stimulate one of the five senses
Bridge
Community Center
Art Museum
Sensory Gardens
Sensory gardens are outdoor spaces designed to create an enriching experience through focusing on activating one’s senses. Sensory Exploration features five gardenseach designed to target one of the five senses. The smell garden features especially fragrant plantings. The Touch Garden features long walls on site with different textures to experience. Directly adjacent to the recreation building on site is the Taste Garden. Here is envisioned to be a community garden. This garden can both be used by the cafe within the rec and a learning project for children’s groups affiliated with the rec. The Sight Garden is an extension of the art museum, with an outdoor sculpture exhibit. Along with this, there are mounds to the Northeast the enclose the space and play with one’s experience of being hidden and exposed. Finally, the Hearing Garden features a linear running water feature and amphitheater for potential audio focused performances
Feel Garden
Hear Garden
See Garden
Smell Garden
Taste Garden