A visitor's center for Big Bend National Park

Thesis statement Architecture needs to respond holistically with nature. Summary According to Webster's Dictionary, holism is "a theory that the universe and especially living nature is correctly seen in terms of interacting wholes that are more than the mere sum of the elementary particles." The earth provides man with renewable resources such as the sun, wind, water, and vegetation. If these elements are applied with technology, then man can live comfortably with the environment, with little or no impact on the environment. That is to say then, that by utilizing renewable resources we can, at the very least, greatly reduce the extraction of the earth's minerals and fuels, and at the same time diminish the pollutants caused by their uses. Facility type My thesis will focus on a Visitor/Entrance center that is environmentally responsive to the park. Scope This facility will inform the public on general park information, natural and cultural systems of the region, and the principles of sustainability. Contextual statement Big Bend covers more than 800,000 acres of the earth's surface in southwest Texas. The park can be thought of in three parts: the desert, the mountains, and the river. Maverick Junction, which is located at the western portion of Big Bend, is where this visitor's center will be sited. This portion of the desert is approximately eight miles from the Rio Grande River and is surrounded by the Chisos Mountains to the east and the Christmas to the north.