Third Place Winner
Bèton 5
Design by
Jaron Richards
“The ensemble of spaces presents unexpectedly diverse flavors and characters, promising an impactful journey. However, enhancing the experience would benefit from a more thoroughly studied external aesthetic language to unify and enrich the overall impression.”
-Andreea Feciuc
“A very commendable project. The simplicity of the concept and its amalgamation is well executed.”
-Sidra Khokhar
Jaron Richards
Jaron Richards, currently employed at a Kentucky-based firm, began his architectural studies at Western Kentucky University. He then pursued a graduate program in Architecture at Lawrence Technological University, where he has been studying and working for the past two years. Richards believes that immersing himself in both academic and professional realms has paved the way for his future in architecture.
Celebrating Creativity & Vision
Winner’s Spotlight: An Exclusive Interview
Discover the story behind the victory — from concept to creation.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background in architecture or related fields?
My Name is Jaron Richards, I currently work at a firm located in Kentucky. I started studying architecture at Western Kentucky University. I enrolled into Lawrence Technological University's graduate program for Architecture and have been studying and working for the past 2 years. I believe that by fully immersing myself in both architectural studies and working in a firm it has helped guide a path for my future.
How would you define emotional design in architecture?
Architecture is a physical manifestation of human ideas, design, and emotions that are meant to create movement, emotions, reflection, everything that evokes these concepts and more is emotional design.
What inspired your design concept for the Emotions on Display competition?
I really started to look at Brutalist Architecture as a style that I wanted to pursue for this competition because to me it was one that created the most response when experiencing it. I wanted to shape the architecture in the project in a way that really reflected on not only a brutalist style but the principles of it. By creating architecture that evokes emotion, there is no need for second hand concepts to shape it.
Can you walk us through your design process for this competition?
My design process involved listing out emotions that I wanted to create in spaces. Whether that be one emotion for a space or multiple but in the end I found myself not wanting to design a single space that was dedicated to one emotion, rather, create a space that the architecture allowed for multiple emotions to be emphasised and let the end user be the judge on which emotion they were experiencing. I then was able to start sketching and modeling areas of the project that I wanted to strongly portray this idea.
How do you plan to ensure that visitors have a memorable and emotionally impactful experience in your museum space?
Due to the architecture of this museum not having a preconceived design in certain spaces to evoke a list of emotions, each visitor of the museum will experience it differently than the next, thus they will feel a heavier connection to the museum.
What were some of the major challenges you encountered during the design process, and how did you overcome them?
This competition was unlike any other competition I've done which brought a sense of self pressure to ensure that I captured concepts and design that were cohesively working together in a manner that made sense. The emotional architecture sense really made me take a step back and rethink how architecture can reflect emotions in the design.
How do you believe your museum design will contribute to enhancing visitors' understanding of the relationship between architectural spaces and human emotions?
I believe my museum design created a sense of groundedness and weight. The museum utilizes raw materials and big masses that are complementary with open spaces that allows for a user to both experience the spaces and transition between them in a simplistic manner.
Looking back on your design process, is there anything you would have done differently?
I would’ve liked to have showcased more spaces within the museum and focus more on how a person can maneuver through each space from an outside perspective rather than my idea of what it could be.
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