Meditation Hut I

Urbana, Illinois

The meditation hut is located in the backyard of a small residence in a working-class neighborhood in central Illinois. In it’s design, construction, and purpose, it was conceived as both a form and a process that encouraged the mind to focus, to center, and to transcend. The architect completed the construction himself - clearing, digging, anchoring, framing, wiring, cladding, and finishing. The hut was built entirely from off-the-shelf products in order to assimilate it into its vernacular setting. The experience of its creation was a retreat both to and from work.

The size and proportion of a traditional tatami mat provides the human-scaled module for the floor plane, the fenestration, and the roof. The large windows are oriented east and west to create a continuous play of sunlight across the v-shaped ceiling throughout the day.

Through material selection, formal analogy, detailing and arrangement, architecture, landscape, and meaning are woven into a single composition. The Hut is raised off the ground to allow the garden to flow underneath. Rainwater collected from the v-shaped roof fills the ground pool underneath the small casement window to nourish the plant life. Collected water reflects sunlight into the room. A fountain provides meditative forground sound to mask the noise from a nearby road.