Brian Witney
Brian Witney
The inspiration to pursue a career in architecture came at Manhattan College where the professor would guide foot tours of city architecture rather than classroom lectures; the midterm exam was held at the Grand Central Terminal. This led me to the Bergen Community College drafting program, earning an Associate’s degree in Applied Science and CAD certification before arriving at NJIT. My understanding of architecture radically transformed in my first year, while the third year was the most transformational as a designer. With a Masonry Contractors of NJ scholarship, I had the opportunity to join the Siena Studio study abroad program and see many studied designs. I enjoyed opportunities to design a horse culture museum, an airport terminal, affordable housing, and the Four Freedoms Foundation in Kahn’s monument park. Some of my favorite times were with my Alpha Rho Chi brothers at our college and with AIAS friends attending conferences and firm tours. Facebook, Instagram
Four Freedoms Foundation
A utopia in its own right, the design proposal creates the most useful building to support the neighboring memorial and hospital parks, while also creating the most expressive building design that will compliment the heroic monumentality of Louis Kahn's Four Freedoms Memorial design. This act of urbanism transitions visitors approaching from the north twenty-first century world side to the utopia of the memorial. The elevated walkways provide for connection to future development of the James Renwick designed Smallpox Hospital and circulation throughout the proposed building. The charge of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech was to achieve essential human freedoms everywhere in the world. The building must express a design of our time and a timeless, unmeasurable design. The building offers contemplative views towards the United Nations campus, the legacy of the speech, and towards the southern horizon to evoke a mindfulness of the state of freedoms everywhere in the world.
