Wheelock Place being a cone glass and steel structure lights up the entrance space with natural lighting (the combination of glass and steel frame allows light to shine into Wheelock Place yet casting shadows at different angles creating an alluring sight.) and when night falls, it becomes a sculpture which lights up from within.
It houses the Borders Books & Music.
I particularly like the fact that since the main drawing point of Wheelock Place is Borders Books & Music, and books bring about enlightenment, by building the main entrance using mainly glass allowing light to pass through, it sort of acts as a metaphor.
Shadow and light cast by the frames creates space at the main entrance making it appear larger then it is. When people arrive at Borders from the underground passage, they are welcomed with this "red carpet" in the form of light and space.
The entrance space is seducing enough for me to post this building on this blog.
Despite the building’s poetic use of natural lighting in the day, the one special encounter I had with Wheelock Place was in fact on a stormy night. I still remember despite my rush for time, when I looked up at the (glass cone) structure from the inside, it manages to sooth my mind. When viewed from the inside, there is a feeling as though one is inside a cascading waterfall as the raindrops hit the exterior and flow off the structure. As the rain water trickles down on the glass surface, it seems to wash all your troubles away and with the artificial lighting, the glass structure seem to be “communicating” with me as the bright lights and the sound & sight of the rainwater presents itself above me.
It was definitely a sight worth remembering.
Jason Tan Yaw Liang
No comments:
Post a Comment