Eureka Lock Research Facility
To introduce myself to the site, I began with an analysis of the entire Cross Florida Barge canal project. About 28% of the 107-mile (172 km) project was built. It was intended to allow barges travel from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Ocean thus minimizing travel time around the peninsula of Florida. However, due to strong opposition from locals and environmentalists the project terminated. My proposed design was to build a research facility inside the abandoned Eureka Lock canal. Here there would be researches testing the waters monitoring the quality of the river. There would also be a public path for visitors, from which they can observe the work being conducted. The museum would showcase the artifacts found in the area which belonged to the native tribes that used to inhabit the surroundings. The dining center would be built onto the lock-gate doors. By opening these doors, this would enable another method of circulation to happen on site. The public could experience the landscape by following the path created for them. The only place for the public to meet and interact with the researchers would be in the dining center. I imagined the roof of the construct to have a series of retractable louvers that pulled light down into the spaces below. The opened gates would also allow researchers to enter the site by kayak or boat. Such access would not be granted to the public.
