Honorable Mention: International Architecture Awards 2022
Sensory Journey | Ghent, New York, USA | 2021

Architects: Studio Joseph
General Contractor: Southside Design and Build
Client: Art Omi, Inc
Photographers: Alon Koppel Photography

Sensory Journey embodies truly equitable placemaking inviting all people, irrespective of ability, to come together for shared learning, enjoyment, and social bonding. Our goal is enhanced awareness and respect for the beauty of nature. Sensory Journey is a site-specific sculpture and place of engagement at the Hudson Valley, New York sculpture park, Art Omi.

As visitors walk through Sensory Journey, they encounter a series of interactive elements and spaces to gather. The pavilion frames views provide shade and a place to picnic. However, beyond the pragmatic, it is a place of playful encounters focusing our senses on the beauty of nature. The experience goes beyond vision to olfactory, haptic, auditory, and tactile experiences and is fully accessible to those with wheelchairs or mobility issues. The pavilion consists of three material and functional components.

1. 126, 4x4-inch, 10-foot-high posts, stained black. They are organized into a 3-part pathway that leads from the woods to an open meadow. The wood frames create an armature for sensory experiences that can be collective or personal. The 125-foot path runs on the east/west compass points for solar orientation.

2. The fire pit relates to the seating and table, fostering a sense of social bonding amongst neighbors, classmates, and new friends. The Art Omi staff conducts educational classes for children and social events at the pavilion.

3. Four types of sensory experiences. They are custom-fabricated metal elements dispersed into the wooden structure.

Green: A gathering of pipes that hover over herbs.
Blue: Periscopes aim at the trees and the sky, focusing on the forest and the sky.
Coral: wind chimes swing from the joists.
Yellow: 30-foot lengths of pipe with horns at either end, one above, hung from the joists, and one below ground.

They allow visitors to talk with each other through this surprisingly low-tech invention. Sensory Journey is a very low-budget project that is deceiving in its simplicity. What made it possible was a collaboration with the fabricator to create a system that would be economical and yet stand up to the brutality of winter snowstorms and scorching summer days.

As the project took place during the pandemic lockdown, there was an extreme labor shortage. The designers in our studio volunteered to paint the woodwork. But beyond the physical labor, we made this project as part of our studio's commitment to community learning, inspiring environmental awareness, and human equity. We want to help everyone to experience nature together.