The theme of this project, a community center located at One Times Square, is "New York is a Friendly Town." It aims in its design toward alleviating the negative feelings that stem from being anonymous and alone among the eight million residents of the City of New York. Accessible to any who wish to enter, this space exists as a sanctuary for emotional expression in a city where a single voice is often drowned out by the crowd.

The initial spheres that greet one who enters the space morph into more transparent and complex shapes as the visitor moves upward. This represents an emotional metamorphosis for visitors from a feeling of being a closed-off, “mass produced” human who has come in from the crowded sidewalks of Times Square into an emotionally transparent, unique, understood and celebrated individual.

As these individuals progress through the parts of the program—from a research library to “Post Secret-style” sharing galleries—they group together to form a community based on a mutual understanding and appreciation of one another.

Faculty for the project:Kevin Estrada