Our proposal is built around the central theme of collective thinking, connection and living together, which we believe are the core values at Silicon Valley. Our age of new frontiers and creative minds demands architecture that responds to enhancement of public awareness to those values, social equilibrium and democratic space, creating new apertures to the synthesis of Silicon Valley. We want to bring to San Jose downtown an architectural narrative about an organic-endemic public realm as told through the story of a programmed landscape. We believe what makes an icon in our era is its program to increase public knowledge.
Public realm / urbanism
The success of an Icon design comes from public’s engagement, observance and acceptance to it. Not only the design needs to definitely be of our time in this public project, yet it should also be timeless. This is possible with mix of thinking together, learning together and being together in a public scale, which reflects the nature of growth at Silicon Valley. We liked the idea that from a distance the passer-by might not know the activity happening on the path, but on closer inspection the applied program would reveal the capacities and capabilities available to us today and in the future.
On ground: engage
The Icon offers a buffer zone to the public with a series of event spaces, steps & ramps in landscape welcoming them for their engagements with the programs.
On path: observe
Providing walking experiences as stimulating as the inner life of San Jose and as culturally fulfilling as the contents within the community and the city inspired by the things and activities at Silicon Valley, the programs will enhance the public knowledge. Observance is as evolving as the learning and the experience is as diverse as nature of human being when the scale is public to read. It happens though a dialogue. It is not one way and specific, yet reciprocal and flexible. For millions of visitors in a year, observance is a motivation either by walking programmed landscapes or riding in elevators, to add to their learning curve when then arrives to the hyper platform to exchange the ideas.
