Pavilion for Runners
Eugene, OR
Spring 2020 Independent Competition

Memorial offerings represent transactions between the living and the deceased. The revered distance runner Steve Prefontaine has received many such offerings— race-worn singlets, numbers, shoes, and medals accrue upon the rock in Eugene where he fatally crashed. In turn, those who pay tribute to “Pre” hope to be imbued by the spirit which defined him as a unique competitor.

A pavilion with three chapels is conceived as a repository for public offerings and a place of repose for pilgrims to the rock. Chapels appear as a clear, linear sequence of spaces, yet they offer subtle variations in their architectural tectonics and affordances. Small alcoves for objects, wall heights, perforations, and antechamber configurations characterize use, view, noise and occupancy. As the chapels are tied together by a corridor that ascends the hillside, the path hairpins into a roof overlook which encloses the pavilion.