SENIOR THESIS DESIGN - THINK FIRST

The Senior Thesis Design is a design project that was spread out over the span of a year: the first half being researching and programming, the second half being the design development. THINK FIRST is an educational exhibition and memorial to educate teenagers on the dangers of substance abuse and to memorialize those who have lost their lives to it. The site is 144 10TH AVENUE in Chelsea, Manhattan. The building is 11 stories and 55,000 SF. Each floor was designed to connect through its vertical circulation and to bring in the weight that is held in the loss of someone important in your life. The space is meant to create an overwhelming experience for teenagers, ages 14-18, as this is the time when teenagers typically begin to experiment with substance abuse. By educating them and allowing them to speak on their experiences openly, there will hopefully be less deaths due to drug overdoses in teenagers. The concept for the space is NEGATIVE SPACE, focusing on the voids left by those who are no longer with us and the physical voids placed throughout the building. With the memorial being placed on the upper four levels of the building, it holds a weight over each other space, letting the memory of those who are gone linger on forever.