Windhover Contemplative Center, Stanford, United States, project: Aidlin Darling Design
The Windhover Contemplative Center, designed by Aidlin Darling Design, is a spiritual retreat on the Stanford campus to promote and inspire personal renewal.
Using Nathan Oliveira’s meditative Windhover paintings as a vehicle, the center provides a refuge from the intensity of daily life. It is intended for quiet reflection throughout the day for any Stanford student, faculty, or staff member.
The sanctuary is located in the heart of the campus, adjacent to a natural oak grove. The extended progression to the building’s entry through a long private garden, sheltered from its surroundings by a line of tall bamboo, allows members of the Stanford community to shed the outside world before entering the sanctuary.
The Center is conceived of as a unification of art, landscape and architecture to both replenish and invigorate the spirit. Water, in conjunction with landscape, is used throughout as an aid for contemplation; fountains within the main gallery and the courtyard provide ambient sound while a still reflecting pool to the south reflects the surrounding trees.
