Jenna Ritz, M.Arch I

Cahaya Health and Wellness Retreat Master Plan: Located on a remote island with limited resources and seismic activity, Cahaya is intimately connected with its ecologically diverse site. The design and program of the wellness retreat responds to Gili Meno’s three distinct environments, identified as Sea, Land, and Sky. The built interventions are tailored to each zone, and generate varied atmospheres to cultivate a deep connection between guests and the surrounding landscape.

Cahaya Health and Wellness Retreat Jungle Spa: The Jungle Spa is nestled in the lush land at the heart of the retreat, emphasizing its importance to rejuvenate the body as part of the wellness journey at the resort.

Cahaya Health and Wellness Retreat Jungle Spa Plan: The multiple spa buildings are connected through a series of paths and views dictated by the siting and existing built environment to create an active sanctuary for introspection.

Cahaya Health and Wellness Retreat Jungle Spa Section

Cahaya Health and Wellness Retreat Sky Village: The Sky Village is elevated to the height of the palm trees to maximize views across the entire island and simultaneously serve as a safe haven for tsunami refuge. The retreat activities and program in each village focus on the Bamboo construction is used throughout each village for material continuity, and its flexible nature is a resilient measure against future earthquakes.

Cahaya Health and Wellness Retreat Sky Village Guest Room Section: The Sky Village guest rooms are elevated for sweeping views across the entire island. A 360-degree panoramic deck provides uninterrupted views to connect back with nature from the privacy of the strategically arranged guest villas.

The Free Public Library: This project questions how the free public library can accommodate the future needs of the diverse local community in Jamaica, New York. Public libraries are seeing a rapid expansion of their activity program—the library is no longer a quiet place for reading, but also a place for community gathering, performances, and more. Therefore, building performance is critical to provide equitable and comfortable spaces for all visitors to participate. The design proposal addresses these needs through a multi-component system that has both aural and olfactory properties. Thus, the sensory system that moves fluidly through the building creates a diverse sensory landscape within the library that can be enjoyed by people with a range of sensory abilities.

The Free Public Library Section: The system components work in tandem to mitigate the acoustic needs of the range of activities, and develop a unique Soundscape. Materials are carefully selected for their acoustic and olfactory properties, and layered together to create a perceptible sensory landscape that appeals to multiple senses equally. The program determines which materials are implemented in the system at that location, and optimizes the occupant’s experience of that activity.

Seed Vault for a Sustainable Future: The Seed Vault is an archive of the living environment that operates at a variety of scales — ranging from the intimate relationship between one person experimenting with a single seed, to the vast quantity and space required to store hundreds of thousands of seeds for food sustainability. The program engages with concepts of containment, collection, organization, and study of seeds as a means to preserve and promote food diversity for future generations. This proposal is located at a cliff overlook in a vast California National Park. In order to minimize interruption of views across the natural scenery, the building is deeply integrated into the site. The existing landscape gently lifts off the ground by means of a sloping green roof to accommodate the ground floor below.

Seed Vault for a Sustainable Future: The roof is occupiable and allows for a heightened view of the park while acting as an extension of an existing walking trail. The lobby at the center of the curved form is completely transparent, allowing one to view the oceanscape beyond while approaching the structure. The building then ramps downward in a cyclical manner, thus embedding itself into the earth much like seeds rooting themselves in soil. The more private programs are located below grade, such as the labs and seed storage. They are highly controlled and sensitive environments that greatly benefit from the dense enclosure the subterranean location provides. The proposal harmoniously integrates itself into the landscape, while providing safe storage facilities for the sustainability of food diversity for future generations.