ABSTRACT
Conditions:
Nature is important as a human function.
Humanity as a species destroys nature by existing.
The city is one of the most efficient constructs we've conceived - consolidation and communal use of energy/resources - but is inherently manmade and "unnatural."
Furthermore, we are spending more and more time indoors; becoming disconnected with and de-valuing the natural environment.

THESIS STATEMENT:
Solutions:
Nature remains important as a human function.
Humanity can build as it destroys.
As more people move to the cities, integrate communal and natural spaces to compensate what is being lost in innate and essential physical and psychological connections to the outdoors.

CONTEXT:
Casco Viejo, Panama - The Old City
Inseparably tied to the rock reefs which protected the old castle from attack, these rocks are as much a part of daily life as the water that covers them when the tide comes in and the tight, cobblestoned street sections that weave through the 16th century building fabric.

CONCEPTS:
Man and Nature - Re-establish connections between man and nature, blur the line between gridded and organic.
Urban Space - Develop the underutilized and abandoned public realm into a lively and functioning "outdoor building."
Ground Plane - Ease circulation, unlock naturally cool and shaded usable space, and maintain visual connection from plazas to beach/water and vice versa.