PROJECT DESCRIPTION

ARCHITECTURAL THESIS - DREXEL UNIVERSITY

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As part of my year long thesis in the 2+4 Architecture program at Drexel University, I chose to focus on the preservation and education of the Lenni Lenape, Native Americans that settled throughout the northeastern US region including Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. The site, located in Point Pleasant, PA, was chosen because of it's role in the Walking Purchase, a treaty established by European settlers in the 18th Century which forced the Lenape from their native lands westward. The building is nestled in the slope of the site, making the site the predominant feature. The museum provides space for permanent and rotating exhibitions and the surrounding land provides space for the dance arena, an important component to the Lenape pow-wow, a ceremony of feasting, singing, and dancing. The research center, separated by a wall of locally quarried stone, provides students a short term residential dormitory, classrooms, and a research library focused on the preservation of indigenous people. A bridge spans the Tohickon Creek and connects the site to the adjacent park, Ralph Stover Park. My thesis was selected as a finalist for the Michael Pearson Architectural Award and was one of six thesis projects to be exhibited at Drexel University's Leonard Pearlstein Gallery.

 

JOB ROLE

Thesis Student, Drexel University, 2010

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Credits:

Walter Moleski, Drexel University Thesis Advisor