The Hearth

Historically, the hearth has been the architectural feature which has been central to the house. The Hearth is a place to gather, warm up, cook, or just surround for social gathering. Long ago, hunters and gatherers used the fire at night to exchange information, gather to plan future outings, as well as socialize. Through the ages, the hearth has maintained these functions and mainly worked to guide air flow. As our technology has gotten more complex with HVAC and smart heating system, the Hearth has begun to disappear from contemporary buildings, or remain as a vanity piece. My project seeks to not only redefine the guild house, by redefine how the hearth can be used, especially outside of residential terms. The hearth is not only a feature that can guide air flows, but a place to gather, plan, look toward the future, socialize, and grow from others company.

The site of this project lay between Chrystie, featuring a beautifully open park crafted to as artificial nature, and the Bowery, a tighter and busier street that faces more buildings created by the grid. Essentially, the site lay in duality between the natural and the urban. How did civilization move from our arcadian organicism to our modern rectilinearity of urbanity? Fire and the hearth.

The program of this project is a guild of hearth. This guild of fire will focus on cooking (the process of taking natural elements, utilizing fire, then creating a modern meal, simulating the conditions of the site). The bottom levels will be public blending the new subway with a food center for the less fortunate and a café. The middle levels will be a culinary school to teach the next generations of chefs. As you move up, higher level professionals begin to emerge. At the top is our Michelin rated chef and a rooftop garden and restaurant style seating. This guild seeks to embrace the culture of the community, give emerging and established a place to share resources and talk about the field, as well as a place to learn and give back to the community.