Charlotte Williams – Student

The educational center should embody and showcase the diverse elements of the canyon, acting as a microcosm of the experience of traveling through the area. The building forms are extruded from the topography and buried in the hillside. The Desert Learning Center has an atrium space splitting the building in half, reminiscent of the river carving through the mountains. The Riparian Gallery follows and frames the subtle bend in the river. A window in each of the three exhibition spaces highlights a different plant community: riparian, mountain brush and grass areas with revegetated native sagebrush. The contrast in the landscapes highlights the profound effect water, and the lack thereof, has on the resulting ecology.