Parallax Pavilion

Porte-Cochere Prototype for Howard Johnson’s Hotel

ROOF

Howard Johnson’s wanted to “modernize” the image of a hotel property by replacing the iconic but dated A-frame porte-cochere. The new porte-cochere uses a thin roof as a horizontal picture-plane to be seen either from the guest rooms above or as an arriving motorist below.

COLUMNS

The eye of the bypassing motorists is stimulated by traveling past the columns supporting the roof. The syncopated pattern of columns visually vibrates due to the driver’s experience of parallax in motion.

TEMPLE

The porte-cochere is an architectonic sign that is made legible by moving around it, through it, and over it. It stands as a temple to transience, beckoning the passers-by to venture into the revitalized hotel for a transitory domestic respite.