San Luis Obispo Film Center at Santa Rosa Park

Santa Rosa Park is a peaceful but well-used park nestled between a busy road, residential homes, and commercial buildings. Once inside the park, one can enjoy its beautiful mountain views and light northern breeze. However, this park has lost its center. When driving past, one's eyes move past the park as though it is not there. As new interests and needs come to the community, each activity is then "tacked on" to the park, leaving no clear direction or focus. There is no path connecting one activity to the other. Therefore, there is a need to re-connect the park back to its center, and also the park to the community.

The SLO Film Center is a great way to re-organize the park and to connect the park to the San Luis Obispo community. A film center bridges the gap between multiple generations and interests, while also encouraging learning through the annual San Luis Obispo Film Festival and various classes. Upon studying what a film is at its core, I discovered that each movie or TV show is always an adventure that takes its viewer on a journey away from their everyday life. Throughout any film, one's view of the characters or the plot is always shifting and changing as new events take place. I took this idea of film and applied it to the building itself. The film center became the "opening scene;" its hinge-like appearance opens up the park to the surrounding community.

As a visitor journeys through the park and the building, they walk along designated avenues that connect points of interest to each other. The walls shift past the corner where it connects to the intersecting wall, creating an interaction of material and interest. One can also discover little "moments" where one can view the "film of life." A small balcony will allows a visitor to stand just off a walking path and view the interaction of people in the lobby below.