studio muse center of fashion in the chelsea meatpacking district elizabeth meyer | arch 807 | prof. bob condia | 1-24-12 executive summary The Greeks believed if you prayed to a muse, you would find inspiration. In mythology, the muses were goddesses who inspired the creation of literature and art. Fashion is one expression of art. The designer creates through fabric. As artists, designers seek inspiration. In ancient times, people went to a temple to pray for inspiration. While it can come in many forms, architecture (aesthetic space) can inspire other artists to create. Architects look to archetypes for inspiration. One archetype I looked to is the Roman Forum. This was the center of life in ancient times. Many temples or baasilicas were located around the Forum. It was a civic center for the ancient Romans. Basillicas were designed to inspire people to think about their place in the universe. The temples were created to honor gods and demonstrate their role in ancient societies. Likewise Studio Muse would evoke a sense of wonder and curiousity spurring creative thought. Studio Muse would be a mixed-use building and serves as a civic center similar to the Forum. The business use would be as the corporate headquarters for Rodarte fashion label. The commercial aspect would be the market or shopping mall. The residential would be the living suites. The industrial would be the mass production of Rodarte’s designs. All these spaces surround an urban stiar that connects the street level and the High Line. "When possession by the muses seized upon a gentle and virgin soul, it rouses it to inspired expression in lyric and other sorts of poetry, and glorifies countless deeds of the heroes of old for the instruction of posterity. But if a man comes to the door of poetry untouched by the madness of the muses, believing that technique alone will make him a good poet, he and his sane compositions never reach perfection, but are utterly eclipsed by the performances of the inspired madman." -Socrates, in Plato’s Phaedrus