Leaves by gt2P connect us with the sky while offering shade in summer and letting sunlight through in winter, creating a serene, nature-integrated space.
City of Hope’s campus in Duarte, California is a place that combines it’s treatments with nature. The new Ted Schwartz Family Hope & Healing Park is a way for patients, caregivers and visitors to relax, reflect and meditate, take a walk or just enjoy nature. Inspiration from nature’s plants that bloom from the ground up, touching the sun with their long leaves. Long leaves that create shelter for the most vulnerable ones. Maybe we can find our own shelter underneath them?
How would it work?
When we face difficulties and seek hope, our first instinct is to look to the sky, an almost instinctive gesture towards something greater. This was the conceptual starting point for our project when designing the Ted Schwartz Family Hope & Healing Park on City of Hope’s campus in Duarte, California, where the goal was to integrate shade structures that provide a space for rest and reflection for those involved in the life of this center.
The challenge was profound and, at the same time, paradoxical: our purpose was to create shelters that offered shade without blocking the visual connection to the sky, maintaining a sense of shelter while also allowing for openness for those beneath them. To achieve this, two sculptural shelters were designed in the shape of a cocoon. Each structure is composed of a series of metallic “leaves” arranged elliptically, which gradually fold to create a perimeter shade over a resting area while simultaneously framing the view of the sky from within, almost like a stadium that captures the gaze upwards.
The founder architect of gt2P, Víctor Imperiale Calisto, also shares the studio’s recent works and his vision for architectural design at PAACADEMY, where participants can explore the latest advancements and emerging technologies in a dynamic discussion. Learn more about the event here.
Shaping Space for Reflection
The geometry of these leaves recalls the lush vegetation of The Dream by Henri Rousseau, where natural elements envelop the observer and blend with the landscape. Like in Rousseau’s painting, these forms provide a dreamlike experience, subtly integrating into the park’s environment while simultaneously standing out as visual landmarks within the Healing Park. They invite visitors to enter a space for rest and reflection amidst nature, framing the sky.
This project was commissioned by City of Hope under the curatorial direction of Ann Berchtold. The fabrication and installation were carried out by Ignition Arts.
Leaves by gt2P Project Details:
Project Name: Leaves
Architect: gt2P
Fabricator: Ignition Arts
Structural Design: Rbhu
Status: Completed – October 2024
Client: City of Hope, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Art Curator: Ann Berchtold, MIGCOM
Location: Los Angeles Area, Duarte, CA
Photography: gt2P
The project description is provided by gt2P.
